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Piracy became common in Somalia to the point where Somali men are nearly synonymous with the trade. Last Hijack (2014) is a documentary showcasing the life of a Somali pirate, Mohamed, in a sober look at his personal struggles. The film begins by contextualizing why everyday Somali men are so drawn to piracy, detailing the history of the torn country and illuminating why piracy became a viable option for many with narrow options. The filmmakers’ motivation was not to create a film where audiences would sympathize with criminal pirates, but to attempt to give some context to a situation the western world doesn’t understand.

Co-director Tommy Palotta said in an interview, “The image you saw in Captain Philips was that the pirates were a group of drug-addicted criminals. I’m not sure if there are many stereotypes about the pirates in the media, its more that people don’t know much about the people behind the hijacks. We got curious to find out what makes these men undertake these dangerous activities, to learn about what drives the pirates. We didn’t set out to make a definitive film about piracy; we were more interested in what one would do to survive in a failed state.”

Mohamed’s piracy once earned him respect, authority, and four wives. Returning home with tons of money made men into royalty - it was seen as a Robin Hood business. When he gets a haircut, his barber talks about wanting to be a pirate. But over the years, with the mounting death and capture rate for pirates (the film presents the staggering statistic that 98% of the pirates active 10 years ago are now dead or imprisoned), piracy is viewed more as the criminal act that it actually is. The glory days are ending.

Somalia is an unstable country with a tumultuous past. Clan wars killed Mohamed’s family members and lots of people he knew. A flood destroyed his village and forced his father to start mugging people on the road for money. Being able to draw huge sums of cash through piracy make sense to Mohamed, especially since his first ransom made $1.85 million, and Somalia is one of the poorest places on earth.

What Last Hijack does is show the social and economic reasons people become pirates and lets us glimpse the human behind the pirate. Mohamed is nothing special. He could be any pirate of a million - and for that, his story is a reflection of all their stories. While all that sounds like it’s a film attempting to garner sympathy for people who are obviously criminals and murderers, it doesn’t play that way - largely because at the core of everything, Mohamed is pretty much an ass. His family are ashamed of him, he can’t find a woman who will let him be a pirate, and he has kids he’s never seen. He got a job cracking stones at a rock quarry, married a girl and promised to stop piracy (else lose his dowry and woman), only to simultaneously continue planning another hijack. He shows a disregard for everyone in his life because of his obsession with piracy. It’s an addiction like the khat he chews; the regular life just doesn’t offer him the thrills of the sea. And he genuinely doesn’t seem to give a crap how it impacts anyone. He’s the Somali season five Walter White - he’s doing it for the money, sure, but he’s also doing it for him. Piracy is what makes him feel good, what makes him feel like he’s not worthless, and apparently it’s a hard habit to shake.

The film does not judge piracy, Mohamed, or Somalian politics. It presents the information and tells a story of a man. No regular person is going to support what Mohamed does (except for those who find kidnapping and murder and random to be good occupational practices), so the film doesn’t need to judge. But it can profile a person who thinks there’s no other option. It can look at an existence that people hear lots about, but don’t often understand, shown from a perspective we rarely get the chance to see.

Slant Magazine’s take on the film’s neutrality does a good job of summing up:

“We never see or hear the filmmakers, but their presence is felt in the rapport the camera establishes with its subjects, who talk comfortably and act naturally, if sometimes a bit shy, in its presence, whether we are following Mohamed or spending time with a civilian as they talk about Mohamed or the effects of piracy on their lives. Every so often, we witness a moment so perfectly timed that you wonder if it may have been reenacted, like when a radio broadcaster who speaks out against piracy and corruption stops what he’s been saying about how many journalists—including his own brother—have been murdered for doing the same. He’s been interrupted by a series of phone calls from someone who wants to intimidate him or worse.

The calls are not from Mohamed, but he’s done his share of terrorizing and killing hijacked hostages, as we see in some of the animated flashbacks. It’s hard to imagine those deeds being performed by the mild-mannered man we see in live action, getting scolded by his mother or fixing up a house for his strong-willed young bride. The distance between those two realities makes this movie intriguing, inviting us to think about the forces that can drive a seemingly ordinary guy like Mohamed to do something so desperate and cruel.”