Justin Lin is most well-known for his work in the action and thriller genres, most notably several films in the Fast and Furious franchise. After directing The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Lin helped to revitalize the series with Fast & Furious as well as Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6. Now, he seems to be scaling back with his latest film, Last Days. The movie, which stars Sky Yang, tells the real-life story of missionary John Allen Chau and his attempts to reach the isolated Sentinelese people.
The tense trailer for Last Days conveys a different side of Justin Lin’s directorial style, with the tightly wound drama focusing much more on smaller, intimate character moments as opposed to bombastic set pieces. With sweeping aerial shots and quick cuts detailing Chau’s life leading up to his dangerous and fateful decision, the Last Days trailer does a good job of setting up the stakes. An officer from the Andaman Islands (Radhika Apte) is also a focus in the trailer, as the character has to deal with the consequences of Chau’s actions by trying to track him down before the inevitable tragedy occurs.
The Last Days trailer seems to balance on a tightrope, exploring Chau’s personal life and goals while not entirely romanticizing his reckless choices. The careful framing of the story in the trailer highlights the inherent dangers and reasons for the real-life controversy surrounding Chau’s death, but also paints him as an empathetic figure. This biopic seems like a fresh change of pace for the director, although the critical reception to the movie has been less than stellar so far.
‘Last Days’ Is Based on a Story Rife With Complexity
The biopic also marks Lin’s return to the festival and independent film circuit, with Last Days making its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, screening as part of the premieres slate. Unfortunately, with only 18 reviews, the film already has a 28% “rotten” rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. One critic from Slant Magazine stated that the film “scatters itself” in a way that “confuses more than clarifies.” While there are plenty of positive pull quotes displayed in the first trailer, there doesn’t seem to be a completely positive consensus based on the limited festival audience that has seen the film.
One of the biggest points of contention and discussion surrounding the movie is how it will end up depicting the Sentinelese people themselves. It will be interesting to see how Lin and the team behind the film handle the representation of a group famously known for having no contact with the outside world. The morally complex and complicated story doesn’t seem particularly well suited for biopic material, and Lin’s choice to bring Chau’s story to life is interesting to say the least. Last Days was acquired by Vertical Entertainment for North American Distribution, and is set to premiere in theaters on October 24, 2025, 10 months after the movie’s premiere at Sundance.
- Release Date
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January 28, 2025
- Runtime
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120 minutes
- Producers
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Clayton Townsend, George F. Heller, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Eric Robinson