In the Lost Lands
★ ½
In the Lost Lands wastes no time breaking the 4th wall. It’s a risky move at any point in any film. Here, it’s done with clunky dialogue and bad acting. It’s an unwanted dance partner with two left feet, bad breath and rancid armpits.
The movie starts off on bad footing that over-stylized cinematography and hyper-sensualized CGI backgrounds can’t recover from. The story is as basic as it comes, the dialogue doesn’t improve past the 4th wall faux pas and the acting is scantly passable.
Dave Bautista and Milla Jovovich
© 2025 Vertical
The screenplay is like the drunk guy who comes up to you at a party and tells you a story he thinks rivals universal wisdom. Such ramblings are never coherent. Your only reaction is something like, “Okay, sure buddy.”
In this movie, Earth is mostly a wasteland dystopia, presumably post-nuclear war. What’s left of society is ruled by an Overlord (Jacek Dzisiewicz) and an evil, totalitarian version of the Church. Everything is ruled with an iron fist, any dissent from the Church is punished by public hanging. The rules of the Church are executed by The Enforcer (Arly Jover).
Milla Jovovich and Dave Bautista
© 2025 Vertical
After the opening monologue, The Enforcer is attempting to hang a known witch named Gray Alys (Milla Jovovich). Gray has some unique skills. She can get in the minds of those around her and get them to do things at her command. The caveat is she has to be able to look at them. Gray uses this skill to escape and earns the chant “The witch who will not hang.”
She returns to her lair where she grants requests for a price. Once a request is made, and a deal struck, she always concludes with: “I refuse no one.”
The Queen (Amara Okereke) comes to her and wants her to find a shapeshifter so she can harness its powers. When The Queen leaves, her assistant Jerais (Simon Lööf) asks Grays to fail to fulfill her request.
Milla Jovovich as the witch Gray Alys
© 2025 Vertical
To find the shapeshifter, Grays must exit the societal walls and travel through the terrible Lost Lands. She enlists the help of Boyce (Dave Bautista) to help her survive the wasteland dangers. As they journey, they’re hunted by The Enforcer and her soldiers.
This film is a misfire in almost every possible way. The action is clunky and mundane.
I’m a fan of Bautista. He’s a good action star, also very adept at both comedy and drama. Here, his talents disappear deeper into the lost lands than where this journey takes us.
Running Time: 1h 41m
Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson
Written by: Constantin Werner
Starring: Dave Bautista, Milla Jovovich, Arly Jover, Amara Okereke, Fraser James, Simon Lööf, Deirdre Mullins, Sebastian Stankiewicz
Action, Adventure, Fantasy
