The Lost Pyramid movie review: Netflix’s thrilling new documentary works as an apology for that dreadful Cleopatra movie

A lifelong showman, Dr Hawass still dresses like a cross between Indiana Jones and Jay Leno — a fedora on his head and denims on his back. On several occasions in the movie, he likens himself to Harrison Ford’s famed adventurer, as he squeezes himself into narrow shafts, sidles through cramped passageways, and brings his grizzled face mere inches from sarcophagi that have remained unopened for thousands of years.

Dr Hawass seems unbothered by the possibility of contracting some sort of disease in the tombs, as he swaggers around the dig site without a mask, inhaling the fumes of the past and the dust of the present. His ‘adversary’ in the film — or, at least that is how he is initially positioned — is the equally renowned archeologist Dr Mostafa Waziry, who is overseeing his own excavation site just a few miles away. To add to the drama of watching these two legends fight against time to discover as many hidden artefacts as they can, we are told that Dr Waziry — who now serves as Egypt’s Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs — was a protege of Dr Hawass’ back in the day.

He remains in awe of his old mentor, and there’s a sense that he has even modelled his appearance on him. But he’s a more cautious person by comparison. Dr Waziry makes sure to mask up before descending down shafts, and in one scene, recoils when he sniffs something foul in the air after cracking a coffin open. He takes a moment to gather his breath as he grabs his knees, and then commands everybody else in the crowded underground chamber to be careful. In another moment, he appears to curse the ancient Egyptian who was responsible for embalming the mummy he has just discovered for doing a shoddy job 2,000 years ago. Because of that poor man’s subpar handiwork, Dr Waziry is left empty-handed.

Despite the endearing eccentricity on display, there’s a rather romantic undercurrent to this scene. It’s as if the past and present are having a direct conversation. You can almost imagine the ancient embalmer being dejected at having let down the explorer from the future.

But Dr Hawass, on the other hand, is a far more rambunctious personality, as he has always been. Even back in the day, when he was hosting programmes on Discovery Channel and Nat-Geo, it was clear that the man knew how to dial up the charm in front of the camera. In The Lost Pyramid, he speaks in blurbs, unleashing zinger after zinger that, for people who are interested in this sort of thing, will function as pure catnip. His narration is engaging and enlightening in equal measure, and the movie does a good job of not overwhelming the audience with unnecessary information. We are given just enough to remain invested in the mission at hand: to find the lost tomb of Huni, the last Pharaoh of Egypt’s Third Dynasty.

As time runs out, both Dr Hawass and Dr Waziry focus their efforts on their respective dig sites, and uncover some truly magnificent treasures. Even when it is clear that both archeologists don’t really have the sort of animosity towards each other that the movie had initially implied, you remain engaged as a viewer in their separate quests, because at the end of the day, they’re serving a cause greater than themselves. For far too long, doctors Hawass and Waziry say, Western explorers have walked away with all the plaudits for making historic discoveries in Egypt — Howard Carter is mentioned more than once. It’s their shared passion to shed light on Egyptian achievement and reawaken national pride that makes The Lost Pyramid, like The Secrets of the Saqqara Tomb before it, a more meaningful experience than you might have originally imagined.

Unknown: The Lost Pyramid
Director – Max Salomon
Rating – 4.5/5