Raël: The Alien Prophet

That aliens might have visited earth, and why wouldn't they? It's a fascinating planet. What I don't believe is that they randomly stopped some French guy and made him the Messiah. I also don't believe that they created humanity, because evolution is a good explanation for that. Rael seems to be a typical cult leader doing nefarious stuff because people let him. The one thing I don't really understand is how opposed people are to human cloning. At the moment it would be a purely biological process - identical twins are clones, so why not give childless couples another option, apart from IVF? If you know nothing about this group, it's a good watch. A.

This is just another generic story about a somewhat charismatic cult leader and a bunch of lost people who followed him, willing to accept any kind of nonsense to find structure and direction in their lives. However, this case isn't particularly interesting, and as a documentary, it feels lazy, much like many Netflix documentaries that prioritize viewer engagement over meaningful storytelling or observation of phenomena. Instead of creating yet another mediocre drama with a straightforward narrative, relying on testimonials and archive footage as supporting arguments for whatever predetermined story they want to tell, the documentary could have explored broader themes, such as the phenomenon of cults and their similarities to religions. It could have delved deeper into the emergence and practice of monotheistic religions over the past 3000 years, examining the differences between this cult leader and historical figures from Judea, Mecca, or Vermont. Alternatively, the documentary could have focused on Scientology and confronted the influence of Hollywood head-on.

I understand Netflix's business model; these documentaries are cost-effective to produce, add fresh content to the catalog, and keep viewers engaged for longer periods. However, they often lack cinematic or social value. While Netflix's documentary production budget may be small compared to their fiction projects, it still surpasses that of traditional non-streaming documentary projects. It's disappointing that Netflix doesn't aim higher and instead serves up the same content we've seen on cable TV for years, albeit with the Netflix brand attached.

These voices made my head feel like it was going to explode. Constantly talking over each other in weird cartoon or AI sounding voices. I had to turn it off even though the information seemed interesting enough. I don't even think I can explain it. Hopefully I'm not the only one that feels this way.

It's almost like the backup voices are too loud and the audio is all mixed strangely.

I appreciate that it is more fast paced than a lot of these series and that it isn't set up like some true crime podcast.

I with they would release it with the original dialog and English subtitles. Time to find something else to watch.

Very odd series. Has all the trappings of an exposé but doesn't really seem to have much to actually expose. It never explains clearly what exactly the tenets of Raelism are or who Rael is, and then spends three episodes using a lot of scary music and visuals to imply that it's all very bad, but without really giving any clear examples. The main focus seems to be that the Raelians lied about having cloned a child - but if they did, who exactly did that harm? I have no doubt that Rael is a charlatan who has used his sway over people to access attractive young women and enjoy attention and a luxurious lifestyle - and it's hinted that worse stuff went on - but the series doesn't really make it very clear where exactly he differs in this from, say, any given rock star. Presumably there are disaffected Raelians, but we don't really hear from any. Yes, the ones we see all seem deluded, but they also seem fairly content and harmless spreading their message of peace and free love or whatever. But as there presumably is a darker side to all this - otherwise what's the point of the documentary - why isn't it really shown? The main draw is the old footage of Rael and the Raelians, and to be honest just an edited-together collection of that would probably have been more illuminating and interesting.

It starts with this ugly french guy, stupid, charmless, looking like the outcome of a botched scientific operation, who claims he's met aliens, in the most unimaginative and ridiculous way possible. I heard 8-year old kids lying more convincingly.

These aliens (The Elohim) are our creators, and they told him all the secrets of humanity, so he has to spread the word.

The poor guy didn't ask for any of that, he's just the chosen vessel (of all the people in the world, they've chosen the one who looks halfway between a clown and a puddle)

Somehow, some cuckoos are adamant he's telling the truth and devote their life (and money) to him.

They build a community, 70's style, with freedom at its core: Freedom for the leader to f... every woman, for the sake of humanity and the "message", of course. Let alone all the people living naked, in the midst of kids and all the disgusting stories that have been reported around that.

In a nutshell, a manipulating piece of sh... But to be fair, he didn't even try to hide it that much, shame on his followers. Another self-appointed prophet with a gullible audience.

I almost forgot that he had dinner with Mahomet and Jesus, who told him they were actually brothers. Who are we to dare to question that? If Rael says it, it is true, period!

And you'll have to listen to the testimonies of "Raelians", who feel they're unjustly persecuted, for the world fears the righteous ones.

You'll get the pseudo-scientist who sounds like she's taken too many Xanax, then the clueless nymphomaniac guinea fowl who was amazed by the prophet's personality and dreamt of having sex with the Elohims (This lady is probably the dumbest of them all, that's saying something!).

And a bunch of brain-dead morons who still haven't figured it out, 40 years later.

Well, it's almost painful to watch, and if it were a fiction, nobody would believe it.

Beyond ridiculous.