ILife as Homo Sapiens is not easy. We have to go to work every day and sit in front of a bright screen for eight hours or do something else that hurts our feet. When we get hungry, we cannot just eat: we have to buy food from a shop, which costs the money we have earned through our work. The food is packed in plastic and delivered from far away. We have two days a week to relax, which we often spend on administrative tasks or doing laundry. It goes on like this until we die, which also costs money when you include funerals and debts.

Not so with the orangutan, which, according to Netflix’s new documentary Secret Lives of Orangutans, narrated by David Attenborough, is one of our closest living relatives and “shares nearly 30 physical traits with us.” Unlike us, however, they spend most of their days snacking and grazing (adult male orangutans can consume about 8,000 calories a day in fruit and termites alone) or otherwise swinging from tree to tree. Many orangutans, Attenborough informs us, spend their lives never touching the ground. Their existence consists of leaves and limitless leisure, berries and shelter from tropical rain.

Secret Lives of Orangutans never fails to fascinate. We see eight-year-old Eden learning to survive on her own as her mother turns her attention to a (unbearably cute) new baby orangutan. We learn that orangutans build their own beds of leaves every night, each in their own way and sometimes with pillows. We see how male orangutans tend to shout through the jungle, informing neighbors of their future travel plans, as well as that they are available for fights and mating. Would we live like this without the incessant demands of capitalist society? It’s hard to say.

Aside from a few scuffles, don’t expect too much drama. The 80-minute documentary is suitable for all ages and remains sweet and lighthearted throughout – basically the perfect movie for a hangover. “Despite their size and strength, these are gentle, thoughtful, problem-solving creatures,” says Attenborough in his distinctive, soothing tone as the camera pans to an orangutan shuffling through the branches with a termite nest in its mouth. Birdsong and string quartets buzz in the background, making it impossible not to feel completely relaxed while watching this emerald treetop universe filmed in the rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia.

As Attenborough tells us, it’s only recently that we’ve been able to get a glimpse into the private lives of these apes (they’ve been monitored for over 20 years by scientists from the Orangutan Research Project, who now have access to new filming techniques, including small drones). In that sense, it feels like a huge privilege to be able to get so close and personal with these creatures in the wild – zooming in on a baby’s thumb clutching its mother’s hair, the way their facial expressions change when they sense approaching danger, their eyelids drooping in sleep. “Orangutans are usually solitary animals, but the ones here are remarkably social,” says Attenborough. “They watch and learn from each other, and in doing so, they’ve created a unique culture.”

If you’re expecting adrenaline-pumping drama, Secret Lives of Orangutans isn’t for you. Even the fights between the toothy males are brief and only hinted at. And the documentary doesn’t quite reach the astonishing visual and aural heights of some of the more spectacular nature TV shows, like the BBC’s Planet Earth III or Netflix’s Our Planet II. Still, this is a gentle yet compelling film; a beautiful glimpse into a world we don’t often get to see (and of which we’ve already lost so much. In the last 20 years, a staggering 80% of the world’s orangutan habitats have disappeared due to palm oil deforestation and relentless human development).

Will you watch with bated breath? Probably not. But will you look at the magnificence of our planet and its furry, tree-dwelling inhabitants with new appreciation? Absolutely.