It's really a story that we all know about.
But the real question is how it's told.
The storytelling, for me, was pretty average. I like the live-action bit, but it did not blow my mind for sure. I wish the interviews had more depth. I like that they tried to humanise Chau - a brilliant but dumb kid who wants to "save" the world from Hell and pave the way for Jesus' return. However, his dad's mournful letter cannot be the sole reason for me to empathise with Chau. I wish the filmmakers tried digging deeper into his life.
Also, how can you give TN Pandit such little screen time? And how can you miss the incredible Madhumala Chattopadhyay in this documentary that revolves around North Sentinel? Wish it was extensively researched and showed the Indian perspective.
The Mission
2023
Action / Animation / Biography / Documentary
The Mission
2023
Action / Animation / Biography / Documentary
Plot summary
American Christian missionary John Chau was murdered when he tried to illegally contact and convert some of the world’s last uncontacted indigenous people. Through exclusive interviews and archival footage of John’s journey, THE MISSION explores themes that strike deep at the heart of religion, colonialism, and anthropology, questioning where we draw the line between faith and fanaticism, exploration and exploitation, imagination and destruction.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
December 10, 2023 at 11:10 AM
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 2160p.WEB.x265Movie Reviews
Um. Okay
Interesting and provided more context about why he did it
Let me start by saying I'm not religious whatsoever so that's not why my rating is higher than others. When I first heard of this story I was just perplexed of course as to why he would do what he did... figured he was just naive and did it all on a whim. The film is very detailed showing WHAT exactly lead him to not only go to the island, but to keep pushing as much as he did: his upbringing, high school/ college mentors, personality and so on. Not saying it was smart to do, just interesting to know why.
Was not a fan of the animated portions.
Lastly as someone who thinks the North Sentinel island is fascinating along with other similar islands/ tribes left in the world, this was cool to watch. I didn't get the "glorifying his actions" vibe at all, even the one ex- missionary guy said how dumb he was.