This film tells the story of the last three years of Oscar Romero’s life. The narrative of Monseñor, The Last Journey of Oscar Romero is developed through the words of Romero in extracts from his Sunday homilies and from his personal diary, including the story of El Salvador as the war approaches. It is told through the experiences of a cross section of Salvadorans: campesinos, guerrillas, soldiers, politicians, priests, nuns and catechists. They provide a chorus of voices who all shared with Romero the tragic history of their country. As this history evolves, so too will the reasons for Romero’s murder.
It is the first film about Romero that goes beyond the classic genre of a filmed biography, to explore and probe the contemporary significance and legacy of his life and tragic death. Finally, it is the first film about Romero to place the iconic figure of the Latin American campesinos at the center of the story. It was they who inspired Romero to find his mission; it was because of the relationship he developed with them that he was killed. In her essay in The New York Review of Books, the film is described by Alma Guillermoprieto as a “hagiography,” and as “an astonishing compilation of footage” of the final three years of his life.