Title DossierDocumentary

Lucy, the Human Chimp

Documentary

In the 1960s chimpanzee Lucy was raised as a human in an experiment conducted by psychologists from the University of Oklahoma. When Lucy was taken to live on an island in The Gambia a young student, Janis, lived with her for 6 years.

Year

2021

Duration

1h 8m

IMDb

7.3

Poster Feed

Cast

Alex Parkinson

Director

Lorna Nickson Brown

Janis Carter

Matthew Brenher

Dr. Maurice Temerlin

Cast

Alex Parkinson

Director

Lorna Nickson Brown

Janis Carter

Matthew Brenher

Dr. Maurice Temerlin

Jacinta Mulcahy

Jane Tamerlin

Janis Carter

Self

Peter Elliott

Lucy

Alex Parkinson

Writer

Trailer

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Comments

10 Comments

Alex KariukiMay 23, 2025

language

Joya Ben DelimaMay 29, 2023

source: Lucy, the Human Chimp

Nekta! 💖Nov 22, 2022

In the end, this expose is as much about the young woman who devotes her life to trying to get a human-raised chimp to adapt to the wild. It's a study of human psychology and isolation as much as it is one of chimp behavior. Weirdly fascinating.

👑 ملكة التيك توك 👑Nov 22, 2022

Most of the human and (wild) animal relationship movies are comedies and mostly targeted audience were children, families. Its either entertainment film or the documentary film. Take for instance, take the recent film based on the real, The One and Only Ivan (2020) or any DisneyNature films. But there are some fine realistic films too we can find, and this is one of those. Very emotional tale, reminded me of the Jane Hawking, the wife of Stephen Hawking from the film, The Theory of Everything (2014) . Yes, a woman who dedicated all her life for another person, like a servant, slave. The commitment she expected nothing in return. In this story, if she wanted, she could have looked after her own life, instead she dedicated to Lucy, a human chimp that's born in the human world, raised by the human parents and sent to live the wild life as it meant to be in the African jungle. Was it a right decision? Very debatable among the commoners and the experts. But 40 years ago the world was different than what human think and do today. They had not had the original footages, so they recreated it with the actors to accomplish the project. It was a short film, but very good. I hope this will turn into a real motion picture. I definitely want that.

Leeds JulieNov 22, 2022

A device that in many documentaries is either stiff or profoundly unreal but under Alex Parkinson's direction -- and with Lorna Nickson Brown in the role of Janis Carter -- rings true. The story is really about the companionship between a Human And a Chimp. James Welch Henderson Arkansas 5/4/21.

phillip sadyalundaNov 22, 2022

I've always had an interest in primates. And, though I've heard about the works of Goodall and Fossey, I never knew of Carter with Lucy. So, I watched with great interest because it's a fascinating, if not at times infuriating, documentary. First of all, I've seen some online criticism of Carter for her attempt to rehabilitate Lucy. The real scorn should be directed at the. Temerlins. It's abhorrent what they did with their 'experiment' to see if they could make a chimp more human. A mother being drugged up then stealing her baby to never be seen again is pure cruelty. Then years later, the Temerlins decide the chimp is no longer worth the trouble so they send her off to Africa to see if she can live in the wild. Horrible people. I give credit to Carter as their assistant for sticking it out all those years to ensure Lucy could survive on her own. But, I could not help think while watching, that Lucy's life was so domesticated with humans, that it might have made more sense to just let her finish her life back in the US, even if at a zoo. The documentary is done in a style that we're seeing more of lately where archival footage is mixed in with reenactments with actors. One thing that left me guessing was at the end where is was mentioned that a search party found the 'scattered remains of Lucy'. Scattered remains? Does that mean foul play? The director could have elaborated on this even if it was not certain.

GerlinePresenceDélicNov 22, 2022

There are many stories about "human" chimps; chimpanzees raised as humans, who fit in well with their adopted families until they reach maturity, whereupon they become tragic creatures, unable to live as either man or animal. This film is in fact more interesting than its title suggests; as what it really does is tell the story of the attempt to re-animalise its nominal protagonist, and of Janis, the woman who set herself the task of reintroducing her into the wild. As such, it's more a story of a simian human, who ultimately was driven from the chimpanzee community in the same way any chimp who loses a dominance struggle might be ejected. This person, however, who provides most of the narrative to the story, is not only still alive, but also intelligent and clear sighted; and has in fact devoted the rest of her life to rehabilitating chimpanzees, albeit with less intimate involvement than she had with her first patient. It's an absorbing story, illuminating by Janis's innate decency and her insight into what makes us human, and what we share with our closest living relatives.

DAVID JONES DAVIDNov 22, 2022

I didn't really want to watch this as you'll know that it's always going to be upsetting and very emotional. It managed that in chunks . Why anyone ever thought it would be a good idea turning a chimp human is beyond cruel in reality. This programme was made in a similar way as C4 and it prisoners abroad series with reconstructions and narrative and the real person talking . It was a heartbreaking watch and you do hope in the end that Lucy did manage to find a life that she was meant to have , if only briefly. If anything good does come from it must be that Janis found her place in the world caring for more chimps in Ghana and still does If you don't want to have tears and a lump in your throat thinking about this for a long time then don't watch.

Mouhtakir OfficielNov 22, 2022

Lucy and Jane's story was such a beautiful story. Great job to the actors portrayal. I had all the feels❤

Saron Ayelign ❣️Nov 22, 2022

Lucy, the Human Chimp