Movie · 1986 · Adventure, Drama, Action, History · 2h 5m · PG · English
Curator score: 5.2/10 (121.4K ratings)
One will trust in the power of prayer. One will believe in the might of the sword.
Overview
When a Spanish Jesuit goes into the South American wilderness to build a mission in the hope of converting the Indians of the region, a slave hunter is converted and joins his mission. When Spain sells the colony to Portugal, they are forced to defend all they have built against the Portuguese aggressors.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.2/10
IMDb: 7.4/10
Letterboxd: 3.69/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 63%
Metacritic: 55
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Roland Joffé
Production
Goldcrest, Kingsmere, Enigma Productions, Fernando Ghia Productions
Cast
Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally, Aidan Quinn, Liam Neeson, Cherie Lunghi, Ronald Pickup, Chuck Low, Bercelio Moya, Sigifredo Ismare, Daniel Berrigan, Carlos Duplat Sanjuan, Fred Melamed, Rolf Gray, Tony Lawn, Monirak Sisowath, Asuncion Ontiveros, Alejandrino Moya, Álvaro Guerrero, Joe Daly
Curator Review
Verdict
A visually ravishing, morally serious historical drama with one of Ennio Morricone’s most celebrated scores. It’s imperfect in its colonial perspective and can feel stately, but the emotional force, performances, and craftsmanship make it a strong watch for viewers who value atmosphere and spiritual conflict.
Best for
Viewers who love prestige historical dramas
Fans of sweeping location photography and major film scores
Audiences interested in faith, guilt, and colonial-era conflict
People who don’t mind a deliberate, meditative pace
Skip if
You want a fast-moving adventure film
You’re sensitive to colonialist storytelling and limited Indigenous perspective
You prefer tightly plotted action over reflective drama
You need a film with a modern, politically self-aware viewpoint
Overview
The Mission is one of those films that lingers more as a mood and an argument than as a conventional narrative. Roland Joffé stages the story with immense visual confidence, using the jungle, waterfalls, and mission settlements as both a spiritual landscape and a battleground for empire. The result is often stately, sometimes remote, but rarely less than impressive.
Worth noting
Jeremy Irons gives the film its calm moral center, while Robert De Niro brings a rougher, more volatile energy to the story’s transformation arc. The film’s greatest asset is Ennio Morricone’s score, which elevates nearly every scene and gives the movie a tragic grandeur that has outlived many of its contemporaries.
Bottom line
Its limitations are real: the Indigenous characters are filtered largely through European eyes, and the film’s politics can feel dated or paternalistic. Still, as a piece of epic filmmaking about faith, complicity, and the violence of colonial power, it remains striking and memorable.
Top Letterboxd reviews
David Sims (3.5★) · 780 likes
the whole movie should just be them throwing things down the waterfall
Quintin (3★) · 592 likes
CEO: "Alright I got De Niro ready to go for a new movie, what do you got?"
Roland: "Honestly nothing much... I have this medicore story with a pretty beautiful location in mind."
CEO: "Hmmmm... that doesn't sound good, we will find something else for De Ni..."
Roland slams a CD player on the table.
CEO: "What... the..."
Roland hits play on the player and the score starts playing.
CEO: "Holy mother of God."
Roland: "That's right. So why don't… more CEO: "Alright I got De Niro ready to go for a new movie, what do you got?"
Roland: "Honestly nothing much... I have this medicore story with a pretty beautiful location in mind."
CEO: "Hmmmm... that doesn't sound good, we will find something else for De Ni..."
Roland slams a CD player on the table.
CEO: "What... the..."
Roland hits play on the player and the score starts playing.
CEO: "Holy mother of God."
Roland: "That's right. So why don't… more
Ethan Colburn (3★) · 441 likes
I didn’t really feel any particular way about this film as a whole.
First of all, I legitimately think this is the greatest movie score of all time. Not only that, Gabriel’s Oboe might be the single most beautiful piece of music to ever grace this planet. I’ve played it at multiple weddings and hope to have it played at mine. I adore Ennio Morricone, and this score seems to capture the romantic side of him, it’s a bit of… more
Chuckman (5★) · 275 likes
The Mission is yet another incredibly underrated masterpiece on Letterboxd that does not get nearly enough affection and attention as it deserves. It showcases in heartbreaking fashion when the Jesuit order wasn't a bunch of sellouts, but when they were at the forefront of actual Christianity. The true story of this is devastating and eventually spins into a Come and See style film showing the horror of greed and its relentless pursuit to ruin all things that are good and… more The Mission is yet another incredibly underrated masterpiece on Letterboxd that does not get nearly enough affection and attention as it deserves. It showcases in heartbreaking fashion when the Jesuit order wasn't a bunch of sellouts, but when they were at the forefront of actual Christianity. The true story of this is devastating and eventually spins into a Come and See style film showing the horror of greed and its relentless pursuit to ruin all things that are good and… more
henry 💿 (3★) · 217 likes
i hate to say this, but this movie reminded me of celebrities who travel to other countries just to pose for promotional pictures with brown and black kids and then dip. it's just the film version of that. the european perspective here is suffocating, we only hear guarani people's opinions translated in one scene. we don't know any of their names or hear their perspective, we're just made to sympathize with them because we mostly see their (really adorable) children.… more i hate to say this, but this movie reminded me of celebrities who travel to other countries just to pose for promotional pictures with brown and black kids and then dip. it's just the film version of that. the european perspective here is suffocating, we only hear guarani people's opinions translated in one scene. we don't know any of their names or hear their perspective, we're just made to sympathize with them because we mostly see their (really adorable) children.… more