LAST DAYS movie poster | ©2025 Vertical Entertainment

Rating: PG-13
Stars: Sky Yang, Radhika Apte, Ken Leung, Toby Wallace, Marny Kennedy, Claire Price, Ciara Bravo, Naveen Andrews
Writer: Ben Ripley, based on the OUTSIDE MAGAZINE article “The Last Days of John Allen Chau” by Alex Perry
Director: Justin Lin
Distributor: Vertical Entertainment
Release Date: October 24, 2025

LAST DAYS is directed by Justin Lin from the screenplay by Ben Ripley, based on the OUTSIDE MAGAZINE article “The Last Days of John Allen Chau” by Alex Perry. We know from the start that something catastrophic has happened to John from the news reports of tragedy that open the film.

We see John (Sky Yang), age twenty-six, in the Bay of Bengal in 2018, paddling in a kayak out to North Sentinel Island.

We learn that the island, off the coast of Port Blair, India, is off-limits to everyone, Indian nationals and foreigners alike. North Sentinel Island is home to an indigenous tribe that is violently hostile to outsiders, and it is the policy of the government to protect the islanders from maladies, physical or social, that could be brought by visitors. There are Indian Navy vessels in the bay to make sure no one goes ashore.

Nevertheless, John is determined to speak with the tribespeople. John is a missionary who is convinced that God has chosen him to bring Christianity to those who have never heard of the religion.

LAST DAYS moves back and forth through the years 2014 through 2018 and all over the globe with John, with some brief but important flashbacks to his childhood, and the determined search for him by Port Blair Police sub-inspector Meera Ganali (Radhika Apte).

In a switch from what we might expect, Ganali is not concerned about possible blowback from the American embassy, and she’s not particularly worried about John’s safety. Indeed, Ganali is furious with John, afraid that he is going to bring catastrophe upon the Sentinelese islanders. As she explains, every time “civilization” interacts with indigenous people, the latter wind up exploited, dispersed and dead.

John is a complete innocent, evidently unaware of these concepts altogether. He idolizes daredevil missionaries, especially his more experienced pal Chandler (Toby Wallace), who sneaks into Iran and North Korea.

Then there are John’s parents, Patrick (Ken Leung) and Lynda (Claire Price). Both are churchgoers, but immigrant doctor Patrick joined the congregation mainly to fit into the community. He is aghast and uncomprehending, not to mention terrified for his son.

While there is a bit of discussion of how people of other faiths, as well as atheists, view Christian missionaries, LAST DAYS is more focused on the specifics of John’s quest.

The film has some confrontation, but it’s not shaped or sustained in a way where John is ever forced to contemplate whether saving people in general (never mind exploiting indigenous folks) could be seen as telling strangers to abandon their lifelong beliefs and adopt John’s on his say-so. Other characters have strong feelings about this, but even when they express their sentiments, they don’t articulate them in a way that allows for an exchange of ideas with John.

The upshot is that LAST DAYS is an intriguing but not thorough look at a young man guided by an unconventional thought process and a need to prove to himself, and to God, that he is who he thinks he ought to be. Procedural fans will enjoy Ganali’s investigation, even though her clashes with her grouchy boss (Naveen Andrews) are fairly typical of thrillers.

Yang puts enormous joy and assurance into his performance. Apte taps into reservoirs of pain and outrage, and Leung is affecting as John’s anguished father.

There are sections of lyrical, tranquil natural beauty, when everyone present appreciates where they are, proof of the hand of God or not. This may be LAST DAYS at its most profound, letting us examine what beliefs the environment inspires in us.

Related: Movie Review: CHAIN REACTIONS
Related: Movie Review: PETER HUJAR’S DAY
Related: Movie Review: DIE MY LOVE
Related: Movie Review: YOUR HOST
Related: Movie Review: SHELBY OAKS
Related: Movie Review: QUEENS OF THE DEAD
Related: Movie Review: SCURRY
Related: Movie Review: BEAST OF WAR
Related: Movie Review: SOLVENT
Related: Movie Review: BLACK PHONE 2
Related: Movie Review: GOOD FORTUNE
Related: Movie Review: ROOFMAN
Related: Movie Review: AFTER THE HUNT
Related: Movie Review: THE DROWNED
Related: Movie Review: KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN
Related: Movie Review: SHELL
Related: Movie Review: GOOD BOY

Follow us on Twitter at ASSIGNMENT X
Like us on Facebook at ASSIGNMENT X

Article Source: Assignment X
Article: Movie Review: LAST DAYS

Related Posts: