John Chau on the beach in Port Blair, Andamans.Supplied
- The Mission
- Directed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss
- Classification N/A; 103 minutes
- Opens in select theatres Oct. 20
Critic’s Pick
In 2018, American missionary John Chau was killed while attempting to convert the protected tribe of North Sentinel Island in India. His death evoked questions about the ethics of Christian missionary work, the dangers of colonialism and the ethos of Chau himself, who was strident in his fundamentalism. The Mission, a new National Geographic documentary about Chau’s life and death, succeeds brilliantly at attempting to answer them.
Directed by Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, The Mission anchors itself to Chau’s own words and experiences (his diary was given to his parents, who provided it for the film), but uses his narrative as the foundation for vital analyses about fundamental Christian rhetoric and colonization. Anthropologists, former missionaries and Chau’s friends offer valuable perspectives – and prompt viewers to examine their own roles in perpetuating ages-old saviour complexes. The message of The Mission, which is arriving in Canadian theatres as part of the Impact Series’ slate of educational and socially relevant films, is as timely as it is timeless, tragically.
Special to The Globe and Mail