The Least of These: The Graham Staines Story
2019 film directed by Aneesh Daniel
The Least of These is a 2019 drama film based on the true story of Graham Staines, an Australian missionary who worked in India helping people with leprosy. The film is directed by Aneesh Daniel and written by Andrew Matthews. Stephen Baldwin plays Staines.
Plot
As the social fabric of life in rural India disintegrates in the late 1990s, journalist Manav Banerjee (Sharman Joshi) moves with his pregnant wife to the State of Orissa in hope of a better life and the promise of a lucrative career. When speculation mounts that local Australian missionary Graham Staines (Stephen Baldwin) is illegally proselytizing leprosy patients, Manav agrees to investigate undercover for the newspaper. What he finds is a series of revelations that are difficult to fathom and even harder to explain, and Manav is forced to make a choice between his own ambition and the truth. In the end, his actions spark a tragic event that is felt around the world. Based on a true story and shot on location in India.
Cast
Stephen Baldwin as Graham Staines
Sharman Joshi as Manav Banerjee
Shari Rigby as Gladys Staines
Manoj Mishra as Mahendra
Prakash Belawadi as Kedar Mishra
Aditi Chengappa as Shanti Banerjee
Aneesh Daniel as House Agent
Campbell Ellis as Philip Staines
Emily Ellis as Esther Staines
Isaac Ellis as Timothy Staines
Surender Sahil Verma
Reception
Critical response
Devesh Sharma of Filmfare giving three stars out of five says, "Indeed, it's the performances that make you sit up and take notice of this flawed film. It does introduce you to the horrors of leprosy, at one time you feel you're watching something about The Holocaust.
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q61450794. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2019.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Least of These: The Graham Staines Story” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.