More than two decades after redefining Asian American cinema with “Better Luck Tomorrow,” director Justin Lin returns to his independent filmmaking roots with “Last Days,” a haunting and empathetic portrait of missionary John Allen Chau. The film, which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and is now playing in select theaters, revisits the true story of the 26-year-old American missionary who was killed in 2018 while attempting to contact the isolated North Sentinel Island tribe.
Chau’s story ignited global debate. A devout Christian and outdoor enthusiast from Washington state, he felt called to bring the Gospel to one of the world’s last uncontacted communities, the Sentinelese, who live off the coast of India and have resisted outside contact for centuries. After making multiple covert attempts to reach the island, Chau was killed shortly after arriving by canoe. His death sparked debate over faith, colonialism, and the ethics of missionary work, as well as questions about isolation and belonging in the modern world. Lin’s film approaches the story not to judge but to understand, finding empathy in the spaces between conviction and consequence.
After years directing studio blockbusters like “Fast Five,” “Star Trek Beyond,” and “F9,” Lin shifts back to a smaller canvas. The result is a film that trades adrenaline for introspection, exploring faith, family, and loneliness with the same emotional precision that first made his name. In many ways, “Last Days” serves as a natural bookend to “Better Luck Tomorrow,” the 2002 breakout that challenged stereotypes by portraying Asian American youth as complex, flawed, and morally conflicted. Lin’s new work extends that same empathy, suggesting that understanding another person’s choices is often more meaningful than condemning them.
Actors Ken Leung, Sky Yang, and Radhika Apte spoke to Awards Focus about how “Last Days” challenged them to confront their own assumptions. Each described a filmmaker intent on empathy over judgment and a story that humanizes a figure many only knew through headlines.
“I’ve been wanting to work with him for a long time,” said Ken Leung, who portrays Chau’s father, Patrick. “Obviously ‘Better Luck Tomorrow’ was such a seminal film for our community. I was excited for the opportunity to work with him. Beyond that, the script, I didn’t know about this story. It was very jarring to have that be my first exposure to it, coupled with the overwhelmingly judgmental reaction people had. It gave me an instant protective, kind of hold-your-horses, what is this, what happened, who is this guy? That was my entry.”
For Sky Yang, who plays John Chau, the film marks a breakthrough role. Best known for early work in “Rebel Moon” and “Call the Midwife,” Yang was drawn to the project through Lin’s reputation for bold, character-driven storytelling. “I did a spoken word piece at the BFI for the anniversary of ‘Better Luck Tomorrow’ before I knew about this project,” Yang recalled. “Justin was there, and I didn’t know who he was. I was very taken by that film, it was young East Asian, flawed characters, people. And there was this really electric energy to it, which felt quite radical and bold and exciting.”
When “Last Days” later crossed his path, Yang approached it with hesitation. “I was sent John’s Wikipedia page first and approached it with a similar judgment, from the headlines. Then again, like Ken says, that dichotomy between that versus reading the script, which suddenly was about connecting with a human being and humanity and connection between people, not just John.”
Radhika Apte, who plays Sub-Inspector Meera, was equally struck by Lin’s compassion. Known for acclaimed performances in “Sacred Games” and “Monica, O My Darling,” Apte said her connection began with Lin himself. “Justin’s take on it was really lovely. He said that he felt the same when he read it, and then he was like, why do you have to go from your community and then go do this? And he said, then I realized it was a young boy and I wanted to know more about him. I thought it was so beautiful. I think the film is about empathy, and that’s what connected with me the most.”
That empathy defines both the story and its characters. “It’s very difficult to listen to people who are very blind religious people who believe that this land is ours or whatever,” Apte said. “Which is why I like about that film, it doesn’t take any side, really. It just shows you the journeys these various characters take.”
Leung, who audiences know from “The Sopranos,” “Lost,” and “Industry,” found deep personal resonance in playing a father. “For me, it’s easy to think the film is about religion, for obvious reasons. But it’s really just the story of a boy who has a very kind of pure dream. Being a dad myself, that immediately is compelling. We have a filmmaker who is deliberately telling a story about somebody that everybody thinks is an idiot, but he’s doing it in a way where he’s grappling with the unknown and unknowable elements of being a dad as a dad himself.”
Yang saw Chau not as a zealot but as someone lost in pursuit of meaning. “Someone said a quote, it’s a beautiful thing to be lost or a beautiful thing to be hidden, but it’s a dangerous thing to never be found. I started to understand that this was someone who actually just had a dream, which is something that I can relate to. He just had run at it so hard that he had missed all these moments with the people who were just right next to him.”
Apte’s character mirrors that same loss. “The Sentinelese is her, because she’s that island. She’s not accepted by people and the world won’t let her be who she is. So I think she’s fighting for her own freedom. Only when she sees herself in John, she resolves it.”
For the cast, “Last Days” became not just a film about faith but an act of faith itself, an exercise in seeing others without judgment. “Faith is important,” Apte reflected. “Without faith there is no hope. But faith in what is the most important question for me. I’m learning these days to have more faith in the goodness in people.”
Leung shared a similar sentiment. “I do have a sense that John’s singularity of purpose was so pure and strong that it creates an energy. That energy is still around. Maybe one of the ways it’s manifesting is in this movie. The seeker in John is still seeking.”
Despite its quiet tone, the production carried Lin’s familiar attention to detail. “Doing an independent film, Justin Lin is still Justin Lin,” Apte laughed. “One day I was doing a scene where I drive up to the airport and Justin just came to the car and said, ‘You’re the best driver I’ve ever worked with.’ I was so happy.” Yang added, “Justin would always say how incredible Radhika was, especially driving. I had to compete!”
The ensemble also features Claire Price as John’s mother, Lynda Chau, Toby Wallace as fellow missionary Chandler, Ciara Bravo as fellow missionary Kayla, and Naveen Andrews as Inspector Sonny.
By the film’s end, the cast hoped audiences would approach “Last Days” with the same openness that Lin brought to telling it. “I hope the audience will take away what they need,” Leung said. “My thing is more about how they’re entering the movie. I would hope that they’re entering it as open as an open vessel as they can be. What they take from it is not my province.”