The 21 is an animated short film commemorating the lives of the 21 Coptic Christian men who were martyred in Libya in 2015. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
In 2013, after years of political and religious unrest and war, ISIS emerged, quickly proving itself to be a bigger, more pressing global threat than the Islamic terrorist groups who came before.
ISIS had many names, ISIL, Daesh, Islamic State, but the organisation was known for one thing— the bloody lengths it would go to exert control over a people.
While ISIS has its origins in Iraq and Syria, the group grew and quickly invaded pieces of other nations in the Middle East, including Egypt and Libya.
In 2015, ISIS made headlines once again – this time for the brutal beheading of 21 Coptic Christian men, 20 of whom were Egyptian and one from Ghana.
ISIS captured the men in Sirte, Libya, when they were on their way back home, torturing them for months before murdering them.
The men were recognised as saints and martyrs by the Coptic Christian Church in February 2015 and by the Catholic Church in 2023.
The film, executive produced by The Chosen star Jonathan Roumie, tells the tale of these men and what they endured during their capture until their deaths.
The 21 does not shy away from explaining via voiceover what happened to these Coptic hostages but does not depict the horrific violence the men endured.
Animated in a neo-Coptic style, the Christians in the film retain a distant holiness to them, befitting of the subject matter.
There is also a distinct difference in how the Christians and Islamists are drawn, with the terrorists being animated in a distinctly more flat, menacing way.
They are, as ISIS radicals were, adorned entirely in black, with only their eyes and hands able to be seen.
What is visible is not welcoming, their hands are instruments of pain and violence, and their eyes are inhuman, white irises peeking out from black sclera.
The viewers likely know how this story ends and there is more than what this 11-minute short film includes but what does make the cut is a succinct, respectful retelling.
The 21 is available to watch on YouTube.
FULL REVIEW
Powerful Coptic martyrs’ story memorialised in animation (By Tara Kennedy, The Catholic Weekly)
