The Least of These: The Graham Staines Story (2019) User Reviews (222)

a story worth telling

[ferguson-6 · 6/10 · 3 February 2019]

Greetings again from the darkness. The story of Graham Staines certainly deserves to be told, as his impact is lasting and his kindness and devotion to the cause are quite extraordinary. In fact he paid the ultimate price ... actually even greater than that ... for his efforts, simply because he bucked tradition and offered an alternative to folks who previously had none.

Director Aneesh Daniel and writer Andrew E Matthews present Mr. Staines' story (based on true events), and even shot on location in India despite a limited budget. Sharman Joshi plays ambitious young journalist Manav Banerjee, who in the late 1990's packs up his pregnant wife Shanti (Aditi Chengappa) and heads to the remote Indian town of Orissa in hopes of securing a writing job for the local newspaper. Once there, he finds no guarantees - only an editor who assigns him the nearly impossible task of procuring evidence that a local missionary is illegally converting Hindus to Christianity.

The missionary is Australian Graham Staines who, along with his wife (Shari Rigby) and 3 kids, run a camp for locals afflicted with leprosy. Staines is played by Stephen Baldwin, the youngest of the Baldwin brothers, and best known for his turn in THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1995). Baldwin and his whispered Aussie accent plays Staines as a near-Saint; one who could only be doubted by the most ferocious traditionalists (of which there are many).

Mr. Joshi plays Banerjee as a bit of creepy-stalking guy who spends a little too much time staring at others. He's conflicted with fulfilling his assignment and discovering the truth about Staines. Banerjee's own moment of self-preservation likely inspired the horrific event by a mob of Hindu fundamentalists that, combined with some insider information, set Banerjee straight with how to proceed and what to report. In the process, he exposes the corruption and self-interest of rural India driven by the many minds closed by religious traditions.

Director Daniel opens the film with actual footage and archival clips of unrest and turmoil from those times. As you would expect, these clips are more disturbing and provide more intense reaction than anything the movie could produce (except for maybe the horrific event noted above). The overblown and overly-dramatic music doesn't help the presentation, yet somehow the message of kindness and forgiven is not lost.

Must watch this Real story

[sandipbisoi · 7/10 · 23 March 2019]

Well made movie about Graham staines. Such a inspiring, motivated and heart touching movie.

Great story but bad acting...with good actors it could be an 7-8

[DanPH77 · 6/10 · 6 February 2019]

The acting was just so bad...the main actor in the film is OK...and Baldwin...well hes OK compared to the rest...but overall the acting just diminishes the potential of the film. Like I said great story...just bad acting.

Good movie, great story

[mark-537-646746 · 7/10 · 6 February 2019]

Well made movie about the Graham Staines story. It is a sad but touching story.

Interesting angle on foreign missions abroad and not over-preachy. Stephen Baldwin was good even though his Australian accent is not that great.

Painfully wooden acting

[uberdonkey6 · 5/10 · 21 May 2019]

What is an interesting true story was spoilt by painfully wooden acting and some really cheesy dialogue. The quality of filming is good, but it just isn't well written and the inter-personal level. The main actor (Graham) seems completely miss-cast. He comes across as condescending and out of touch with his Christian faith. Whilst helping people medically he has the charisma and warmth of a deep sea halibut, and a distinct tendency to sneer. Not really any likeable characters in the film, but nevertheless an important story. I wish it had had a different cast (all of them except maybe the journalists wife) a different dialogue writer and a different director. Maybe then it would have been a good film. Poor camera man was carrying the whole film.

Well worth watching

[jewelch · 7/10 · 9 June 2021]

A deeply provocative and disturbing issue of 'religious conversion' and a brutal and barbaric hate crime that followed, forms the story of this social drama. Yep it is well worth watching. James Welch Henderson Arkansas 6/6/21.

Beautiful film, terrible discussion added on

[fsigworth · 5/10 · 4 February 2019]

I was very touched by the end of this beautiful film (deserves 10 stars), but the atmosphere was totally ruined by a filmed discussion that immediately followed it (even before the credits in the theatrical version I saw). Ravi Zacharias and Shari Rigby are wonderful, but this "message to pastors and Christian leaders" was jarring and the placement was very much in poor taste. My heart goes out to the filmmakers for this tarnishing of their work.

See this film!

[rlbcompany · 9/10 · 2 February 2019]

Powerful story of love, commitment, sacrifice and forgiveness. A film that all should see.

Forgiveness

[reacheather · 7/10 · 30 March 2019]

A great movie in this age when so much is about I, me and myself. The Staines family teaches us what it means to value another human above self. A rare quality to serve and die for others paying the ultimate price as Jesus Christ showed us by laying down His life for us.

Who are the least of these?

[floraposteschild · 1/10 · 16 November 2019]

There are so many to choose from: the writer, the director, the editor, the actors (especially Stephen Baldwin -- with an "Australian" accent!), whomever greenlit and funded this film, which is amateurish with a capital "A"? I can almost that if you have a school age child, he or she could pull together a better looking, more coherent production. Maybe the least is the audience for this movie -- does this sound good to you: a reporter goes undercover in a leper colony, to find out if a missionary is converting its Indian residents (aka "the least") by force. He isn't; and nothing else happens. The End. Unfortunately, I am unfamiliar with Graham Staines, but surely he deserves a better tribute.

Thought provoking

[earnestcosta · 9/10 · 25 March 2019]

Gripping and thought provoking. The Movie takes you through a journey of a man who challenges you to reflect and forgive. This is one story that needed to be told.

Forgiveness and love in action.

[Molongirl · 7/10 · 13 May 2019]

I remember the shocking headline news when Graham Staines and his 2 young boys were so barbarically attacked. That anyone could hate other humans so much as to burn them alive, especially 2 young kids was unbelievable. We've since seen that barbarity repeated ad nauseum by Isis but it doesn't lessen the impact of this story, it is very well told. The way its seen through the eyes of an antagonistic journalist goes some way to helping us better understand the mentality behind the attack. So many moving scenes and at the heart of the story ordinary people who loved and served other people extraordinarily because of God's love for them. On a movie level the acting was very good and the Indian setting, scenery etc was brilliant. My one minor quibble is the accents. To an Australian they just didn't ring true. Stephen Baldwin didn't do too badly but Gladys and the boys were clearly American. A bit more time with a voice coach or use Australian actors??? But a very minor issue. , it's very much a movie that will inspire and encourage us all to live like Jesus and love all his children. Do go and see it.

Meh, at best

[henrycharlescollins · 4/10 · 22 June 2019]

I watched this because it kept coming up as "recommended." Sorry I did. A plodding story helped not at all by wooden acting and paceless direction. The scenery was pretty. The acting resembled the scenery. Equally dynamic. Baldwin's accent(s) were terrible. I bet he spent at least 2 or 3 hours with a dialogue coach. A stinker.

Let truth reign

[rekhamariam-49026 · 7/10 · 8 April 2019]

Quite realistic, excellent attempt to capture difficult circumstances that exist in developing countries. A grim reminder to the nation as Ravi Zacharias once said "Justice is the handmaiden of truth, and when truth dies, justice is buried with it." May the conscience of India never die hope millions in this land choose truth and integrity as the cornerstone of their existence.

Fiction presented as fact

[kuuladi · 2/10 · 22 September 2020]

I am from Orissa where Mr. Staines and family indulged in aggressive proselytization of poor tribals who traditionally worshipped the Hindu gods and nature. This was done using many ways including providing health care etc.; which is a general strategy of all the evangelists working in India. According to them the only god is the god they believe in and they need to spread the message of god and convert people into their faith. This resulted in altercations with the defenders of aboriginal faiths. Staines refused to stop his proselytization activities and the defenders wanted to stop this at any cost. It is a fact that the evangelists spent millions of dollars as incentives for people to convert to their faith. It could be as little as 100$ to as high as they deemed fit. The conversions changed the demography of the region. As a retaliation these crazy guys burnt the family to send a strong message. This is definitely not the way to send any sort of message. Deviating from this murder, I hope the white christian rich also see the ill effects of their aggressive proselytization activities and make a film on the various unethical means like exploiting the poverty with inducements etc. and then converting them to their faith. The truth is bitter and shall never show the brutal effects of proselytization.

Hard Truths that need to be told

[bramble-67253 · 6/10 · 1 June 2019]

I have given this a good rating only because the Graham Staines story desperately needed to be told, and this is the only film trying to tell it. It is important to remember three things: 1) Whenever Christians are attacked by Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, Buddhists or Communists in Third World countries, the first thing the authorities do is arrest the Christian victims and refuse to release them until they drop all charges against their attackers. Gladys Staines' rush to "forgive" these criminals may have been in order to spare Indian Christians, who have lived in India for 2000 years, from arrest and further attacks.

2) Christians make a terrible mistake in rushing to forgive murder, & assault without any sign of repentance from the criminal, because as Jesus taught us clearly in Luke 17:3 "Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and IF HE REPENT, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I REPENT; thou shalt forgive him."

3) The oddly-chosen Indian director of this film, whose previous film was about the Kama Sutra sex manual, seemingly tried to "justify" this horrific crime, by distracting attention away from the true motive for the attack: the devout Christian father and his two young sons were offered as a ritual human fire sacrifice to Kali, the Moon Goddess of Death, "Mother Goddess of All India", who is also worshipped using the Sanskrit name "Allah". That is why they were burnt alive. Human sacrifice of children to Kali is still a big problem in India today, though little known in the West.

Extremely bad acting and horrible plot

[discerninguser · 1/10 · 4 September 2020]

The actors are clearly out of their depth here. And the plot has so many holes that you can drive a truck through those. Clearly an agenda driven movie that tries to justify proselytization and tells only one side of the story.

True story

[dastapash-77012 · 10/10 · 23 March 2019]

When I was young School boy, I first come across about this news about him,the terrible death and work. After many years,the movies clearly states why he had to go through this terrible death. And how much he is done for the people of India. Amazing movie !

Well Worth Watching

[outofseason · 7/10 · 28 January 2023]

My wife and I watched this together. It's not an easy film to watch but is factually-based and well-told. It will not suit the microwave generation that needs constant explosions, jokes and car chases. But the story moves along well.

One of the best Stephen Baldwin performances to date. The Indian actors were very authentic which is funny because in real life our Indian friends can be a bit wooden and strange (to us) as we are to them, but I believe some interpret the authentic Indian on screen to be bad acting!

Regardless, every Christian and all people who wish to understand the realities of anti-Christian persecution around the world (which goes underreported and unreported by American news media) should watch this. Like all people groups, Indians have good and bad. Many are wonderful people. But the extreme elements of the Hindu religions can be as dangerous as any death cult on the planet.

Watch as Fiction

[vk-58476 · 1/10 · 19 September 2020]

Single aided Facts supported by Fiction. Glorifing one side & making villainous the whole others

Inspirational story of Christian courage in India

[safenoe · 9/10 · 21 August 2020]

I'm very impressed that there's a high ratio of user reviews compared to votes. Over 200 user reviews and over 700 user votes. I don't think there are many movies with such a high ratio. Aneesh Daniel directed The Least of These: The Graham Staines Story, and it was written by Andrew E. Matthew. The Graham Staines story is one of Christian courage amidst fanaticism in India, which speaks volumes with the current administration there. Perhaps there can be a sequel that deals with the fanatics convicted of the murder of Graham Staines and his two sons. Stephen Baldwin, a Christian actor who gained fame in The Usual Suspects, plays Graham Staines with a quasi-Australian accent. Bollywood superstar Sharman Joshi plays fledgling journalist Manav, and Shari Rigby plays Gladys Staines.

Very poorly made

[rageeth · 4/10 · 25 June 2020]

Watched it due to the interesting true story that this movie is, but it's so poorly made . Really bad. The dialogues are so poorly written, and why do the Indian actors speak in the weirdest accent

Love, Compassion, Forgiveness & Kindness

[Movie_Freak_2019 · 10/10 · 18 May 2020]

This has of late been the reason for hatred in Sri Lanka, Burma, India, Pakistan, and many other countries.

Sadly people who don't know the true genuineness and content of a Christians heart misjudge and falsely accuse them as forcibly or converting with bribery.

They failed to understand that the reason why most of the people converted is because they witnessed ' Love', 'Compassion', 'Forgiveness' and 'Kindness' which can only come from the love of Jesus.

Over the past few months, there were quite a few cases where Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka attacked and/or falsely accused Christian priests and missionaries of forcibly or spreading Christianity by bribery, as they thought that that would be the only way they can prevent the spread.

This movie brings awareness to the world that in many countries, minority religions are being targeted and attacked by a small percentage of their majority.

I believe awareness and making movies of true events as such will educate us all humans to be more loving, compassionate, forgiving, and kind to all races regardless of our ethnicity, color, or religion.

Reality of missionary helping leprosy patients

[bejoythundil · 10/10 · 12 September 2020]

Movies tells how missionary serves leprosy patients for there better life forward, this is reality

Excellent movie

[govilseema · 10/10 · 7 February 2019]

A sensitive true story handled in a very subtle and ultra- fine manner. It makes you reflect and access your own life. Beautiful story of grace, humanity, love and forgiveness. A must watch.