In 1839, Brooke flees Victorian England to explore Borneo. Directed with visual flair, Michael Haussman’s EDGE OF THE WORLD (2021, 104min) settles into a compelling character study that also offers a broader examination of Victorian-era colonialism. After a pirate attack, Brooke allies with rival princes to seize a rebel fort. To save prisoners from beheading, Brooke agrees to be crowned Rajah. Makota’s pirates massacre Brooke’s capital, leaving James half-dead. To save his people, he must shed Englishness and embrace the jungle: “All of it, the beauty and the blood.”