Title: In The Lost Lands
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Cast: Dave Bautista, Milla Jovovich, Arly Jover, Fraser James, Deirdre Mullins
Where: In theatres near you
Rating: ***
Paul W.S. Anderson’s latest plunge into dystopian chaos is a cocktail of medieval fantasy, Western grit, and post-apocalyptic despair—shaken, not stirred. Adapted from George R.R. Martin’s short story, the film attempts to weave together disparate genres with the finesse of a juggler balancing flaming swords. While the visual spectacle occasionally dazzles, the narrative stumbles under the burden of its own ambition.
At the heart of this murky, sepia-toned world is Grey Alys, a witch-for-hire with a morally ambiguous mantra: “I refuse no one.” Milla Jovovich, Anderson’s perennial muse, plays Alys with a stoic grace that borders on the somnolent. Her mission? To help a queen gain the power of a shapeshifter, with the assistance of Boyce, a brooding gunslinger played by Dave Bautista, whose rugged charm and emotional depth nearly salvage the film from collapsing under its genre-bending excess.
The film’s world-building is undeniably intriguing. A barren wasteland littered with skeletal demons, religious zealots, and a giant war train reminiscent of Mad Max serves as the backdrop for the duo’s quest. Anderson’s penchant for slow-motion action and hyper-stylized visuals is in full force here — though at times, it feels more like a nostalgic nod to early 2000s action flicks than a fresh cinematic innovation.
Where the film truly shines is in its fleeting moments of visual poetry. The camera glides through crumbling cities and eerie industrial landscapes with an almost dreamlike quality, as if the audience has stumbled into a cursed fairy tale. Yet, this aesthetic brilliance is undercut by a script that often feels like it’s racing through plot points while forgetting to let the characters breathe. The dialogue, peppered with clunky one-liners and expository dumps, does little to elevate the emotional stakes.
Bautista’s Boyce is perhaps the film’s most compelling character — a grizzled hunter nursing old wounds and a fondness for venomous pets. His dynamic with Jovovich’s Alys is meant to anchor the film’s emotional core, but their chemistry feels as barren as the wasteland they traverse. The supporting cast, from the scheming queen to the fanatical Enforcer, are reduced to archetypes, adding little depth to the already thin narrative fabric.
Anderson’s decision to blend multiple genres — from medieval fantasy to spaghetti western to sci-fi dystopia — is ambitious but ultimately dilutes the impact of each. The war train, a visual feast, becomes little more than a set piece, while the film’s religious zealots feel like knock-offs from a better Fury Road sequel. Even the final twist, which attempts to inject depth into Alys’s character, arrives too late to resonate.
Ultimately, this cinematic escapade feels like a relic from an era when spectacle could mask shallow storytelling. While In the Lost Lands offers fleeting glimpses of brilliance and Bautista’s earnest performance is commendable, it remains trapped in a genre-blending limbo, much like its protagonists wandering through a world of forgotten dreams.
