![Richard Dreyfuss](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.tmdb.org%2Ft%2Fp%2Fw200%2F%2Fq2BPu6zWwFtnzQfpl4fgbKqURXM.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
After squandering his grant money, despondent and recently widowed anthropologist James Krippendorf must produce hard evidence of the existence of a heretofore undiscovered New Guinea tribe. Grass skirts, makeup, and staged rituals transform his three troubled children into the Shelmikedmu, a primitive culture whose habits enthrall scholars. But when a spiteful rival threatens to blow the whistle on Krippendorf's ruse, he gets into the act as well.