The Mission

The tragic death of American John Chau in 2018 was world news. The evangelical missionary saw it as his task to spread Christianity, preferably as the kind of adventurer featured in the colonial comic books and films of his youth. When he learned of the existence of an isolated indigenous people on the remote Indian island of North Sentinel, he came up with the idea of going there on a one-man mission. He didn’t live to tell the tale.

Interviews and diary excerpts, partly animated, are punctuated by home videos and archival footage of old adventure films and nature documentaries. Scholars place the story in the context of an outdated imperialist narrative of daring missionary work.

Supporters from Chau’s church community find his story inspiring, courageous and even noble. Meanwhile, older evangelical missionaries look back on their own missions with mixed feelings: “There’s a fine line between faith and madness,” one of them concludes.