Film Review: LAST DAYS
by Karen Pecota

Justin Lin, USA 2025

Renowned filmmaker Justin Lin, responsible for re-booting the Fast & Furious franchise, returns to independent filmmaking to showcase a true story of missionary John Allen Chau in LAST DAYS.

In the late fall of 2018, a breaking news story of the disappearance and possible martyrdom of a young twenty-six-year-old missionary John Allen Chau hit the airwaves. At the time, he was attempting to contact a tribe in the North Sentinel Islanders. Because Chau’s faith had so positively changed his life, he wanted to reach out to a people group who had never heard of the gospel according to the writings of the New Testament. The tribe Chau targeted, living off the coast of India, is notorious for having no interest in connecting to the outside world. For decades others had tried unsuccessfully.

Lin first heard the breaking news of Chau’s mission and demise while in an airport watching a bar screen. He recalls, “I’m not religious so I couldn’t wrap my head around someone’s motivation to kayak to a remote island, potentially bringing disease and other dangers with them.”

He assumed the kid’s naivety is what got him killed. But Lin’s curiosity was piqued when the image of Chau appeared on the screen. Chau was a young, Asian American. Lin says, “Something just hit me— who am I to judge someone so quickly? I have a fifteen-year-old son.” Adding, “That’s somebody’s kid; that’s somebody’s brother. That twenty second judgement I made led me to a four-year journey to make this film and examine not only John Chau’s life, but my own biases. I knew from the beginning I wanted to tell John’s story without judging him.”

Lin was not the only one curious about Chau’s journey. Lin discovered that journalist Alex Perry had written a rather lengthy article tracking Chau’s life, adventures and mission. The July 24, 2019, edition of “Outside Magazine”, published Perry’s article, “The Last Days of John Allen Chau.” Perry knew the islands well and understood Chau’s journey. Perry wrote, “Where John and I differed was that while I had been a reporter pursuing a story, John wanted to be the story.”

Based on Perry’s research, Lin, along with screenwriter, Ben Ripley, give LAST DAYS exceptional authenticity and transparency. They include several of Chau’s journal entries to demonstrate the sincerity of his intentions while pursuing an endeavor that some might consider to be purely egotistical. Perry notes that despite negative assumptions by many, Chau was undeniably driven to accomplish his mission. He prepared diligently every day for his mission—physically, mentally, and spiritually. Perry’s article beautifully accompanies Lin’s visual narrative.

We’ve heard stories before of missionaries giving their lives for the cause of sharing their Christian faith, e.g. David Livingstone in Africa, Jim Elliott and four other Americans, martyred in their 20s by the Huaorani people in Ecuador in 1956.

Lin’s LAST DAYS grants the audience a glimpse of the world through Chau’s eyes. That includes: his love for the outdoors, his quest for adventure, his bright personality, and his inner loneliness. Though his motives were undoubtedly complex, LAST DAYS provides the audience insight into a complicated young man who chose to serve, rather than to be served.