Sundance 2022: 'The Mission' offers an unfiltered look at the LDS mission experience

THE MISSION
World Cinema Documentary Competition

Director: Tania Anderson
Screenwriter:Tania Anderson

Sundance Synopsis:Offering an unprecedented level of access into the journeys of missionaries, "The Mission" follows four American teens as they embark on one of the most religiously significant, ideologically challenging, and culturally unifying experiences in their community: their mission to Finland. As these young people reckon with the weight of their ambassador status, the film explores the varying ways in which their work shapes how they view themselves, the world, and their theology. Steadfast in its commitment to their perspectives, this film reveals the individuals behind the suits and nametags that have come to signify the work of Mormon missionaries globally. Through snubs on street corners, difficult Finnish lessons, triumphant baptisms, tearful goodbyes, and riotous welcomes home, "The Mission" is a full-bodied, complex presentation of missionary life.

Review:For me, the topic of serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a triggering event. It's not a period of my life that I look back on with fond nostalgia. Nonetheless, when I saw that "The Mission," a documentary about a group of missionaries serving in Finland, was screening at the Sundance Film Festival, I knew that it would be irresponsible for me to ignore it. I was particularly intrigued by the fact that the film was a selection in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. That means that the film was produced outside of the U.S. The film was made with the cooperation of the LDS Church in the sense that cameras were allowed into the Missionary Training Center, a somewhat isolated group of buildings in Provo, Utah, where young people go to learn how to be missionaries. I have no idea what input they had, if any, in the final cut. I can tell you that "The Mission" is a more realistic look at what it is to be a missionary than you'll hear in a church house. It follows a group of strangers who are connected only by their shared religion and the commitment toproselytize in Finland. Their reasons for serving a mission are different in the sense that some view it as a rite of passage that they are required to take. A sort of LDS version of a walkabout or pilgrimage. None of them are particularly prepared for the journey they are about to embark on. One or two might be ridiculously overconfident.

"The Mission" is about struggle. It isn't a promotional piece. It's also not mean-spirited. In fact, I tip my hat to director/writer Tania Anderson's ability to simply present the experiences of these young people as they happen without any commentary. Some of the missionaries' stories are more interesting than others. I suspect that audiences will connect with different stories depending on their own experiences. It is a brisk film, but those who have served a mission will tell you that day-to-day life is regimented. Your Tuesdays look a lot like your Thursdays. Your Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays offer little variation. Once you've established the daily grind, it's time to move on to those few moments scattered here and there where something actually happens. Essentially, "The Mission" gives audiences a taste of what missionary life is. It isn't the full course.

Some might be frustrated by the incomplete nature of the stories. There's no retrospection. We don't know what the mission experience will mean for these missionaries going forward. So many decisions are yet to be made.