Last Days might be about a religious missionary, but it has all the intensity of an international thriller.
The based-on-a-true story follows John as he tries to understand why God made him. It turns out that this is not an easy question for him to answer, and so, the moviemakers whisk us around the planet, trying to keep us up with John’s flurried brain, and revealing surprises about his family, his religion, and the cultures that he encounters.
It really gets interesting when John decides that the best way for his talents to be used is to convert an indigenous tribe to Christianity—a tribe that has, to date, killed every single outsider that it has encountered.
Whatever you think of John’s choice, he is portrayed brilliantly by his actor. It’s hard not to be stung by the flames of brazen naiveté and soul-torturing confusion the radiate off of him; hard not to feel for that entreating smile.
The bad? There’s plenty. The movie spends a bit too much time with John. When we see his family, the scenes are mostly depthless. And worst of all, the writing is full of cheap one-liners.
Each of those things takes us out of the experience, but thankfully, we are always drawn back in. The thriller-style structure of the thing, John’s acting, and the best part—that the movie asks us to consider pernicious ideas—make up for all the bad.
Have you ever really thought about how love, funneled through an organization, can destroy entire cultures? Do you realize what immigrants must lose, over and over agin, to survive in a new reality? How their kids might feel lost as a consequence?