Netflix brings us the eight-part conspiracy theory series with Files Of The Unexplained. It discusses hauntings, unsolved crimes, cults, aliens, and secret history.
Each episode takes a particular topic and scrutinizes it. We hear about well-known cases like the Yuba County Five and the mysterious surrounding odd occurrences on Mount Shasta. Actress Tijuana Ricks acts as an excellent narrator and tour guide through each of these stories, with an off-screen director interviewing experts, witnesses, and others.
While each case was interesting, they kept shoving identity politics and political correctness down your throats. It was not present in every episode, but it got annoying very fast. The pilot discusses a haunting of a former plantation that was turned into a bed-and-breakfast.
Instead of focusing on the horrible things that caused the alleged hauntings, we got a minutes-long and, quite frankly, boring lecture on whether or not it should have been turned into a bed-and-breakfast at all. Make that its own documentary, do not shoe-horn it into a tale about a haunting. They did this several times in different contexts, and it really took you out of the story.
I was also disappointed with how it told the story of the Yuba County Five. Five young men with mental health troubles go to a basketball game, vanish, and four are found dead on a nearby mountain. One has never been found. It is a captivating story, but the episode, despite interesting interviews with family members, left a ton of important data out of their taping. I have watched YouTubers who put more and better information inside their discussions of this incident.
Overall, it was a mediocre documentary series that will disappoint people interested in unexplained events. Still, others may find the topics interesting if you can get past the annoying lectures.
Check out the trailer below:
PARENTAL CONCERNS: Disturbing imagery, Discussions of disturbing topics
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, anime, movie, or novel you would like me to review.