Director Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine’s Nat Geo film “The Mission” is one of the most frustrating movies of the year. It’s a documentary that tip toes through its subject matter to its detriment, and avoids the outright reality of a situation that should have never happened and a life that should have never been taken. In 2018 American missionary John Chau was murdered in an illegal expedition to preach his religion to the isolated village of the Sentinelese tribe off the coast of India.
Although the grim details of how he died and what happened to his body were never really clarified for the public, his diary was fetched. This allows us to kind of peek in to the mind set of John Chau and that’s where “The Mission” falters.
Directors Moss and McBaine worked closely with Chau’s parents to explore the events leading up to his horrible death, thus the movie spends too much time trying to idealize him. He’s established as an adventurer, an idealist, and someone whose own sense of daring made him someone worth admiring in a sense. During the second half the movie finally drops the veil to explore not so subtly how John Chau had built up a Messiah Complex. John’s alleged best friend Levi even speaks about Chau’s death with pride more than caution, a peculiar aspect of the documentary that was downright eerie.
John managed to build on the delusion with the help of the predatory church he belonged to that, quite openly, instilled delusions of grandeur in their missionaries. As a clear example of their intentions toward Chau, the interviewees working for Chau’s missionary program explain in deadpan how much they encouraged his preaching of the gospel. They then refused to admit any fault or guilt when the conversation of his death arose.
They even somewhat throw him under the bus, refusing to divulge the identity of Chau’s mentor, who likely sent Chau on his mission, but conveniently didn’t go with him. Where were Chau’s parents the entire time? Why didn’t they try to discourage him more? Why didn’t any of his siblings attempt to talk sense in to him? Does John’s parents blame his “best friend” Levi? Were there legal repercussions for the Mission program John was apart of, or his family?
Nevertheless, “The Mission” is a stark and grim portrait of another victim of the urge to preach “the gospel.” Though, it may not offer many answers, nor provide a ton of insight, it successfully tackles the sociopathic, often sickening urge we continue to have to colonize, and proselytize.
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