This May Be the Last Time

Synopsis

The film narrates that when in 1962 Pete Harjo, the director's grandfather, mysteriously went missing after his car crashed on a rural bridge in Sasakwa, Oklahoma, members of his Seminole and Muscogee community searched for him while singing songs of faith and hope that had been passed on for generations, with roots in both Scottish hymn lining and African American music. Harjo interviews family members and locals, as well as academic experts on the subject including the Yale professor Willie Ruff and Rogers State University's Hugh Foley.

Reception

This May Be the Last Time received positive reviews from critics. Guy Lodge of Variety said in his review, "Filtering painstaking research on the evolution of Creek Nation hymns through a tragic narrative from Harjo's family history, the director's first nonfiction feature is artful and illuminating." Justin Lowe in his review for The Hollywood Reporter praised the film by saying, "The mystery of Pete Harjo’s disappearance turns out to be somewhat more prosaic, although Harjo plays out developments in the missing-person search skillfully enough to maintain interest, much in the storytelling tradition of his tribal elders." Amanda Rock in her review for Slug magazine, wrote, "This film gives insight into a small community that supported each other through a difficult time, both physically and spiritually."