Prisoners of the Ghostland is a 2021 American horror Western film directed by Sion Sono, from a script by Aaron Hendry and Reza Sixo Safai. It stars Nicolas Cage, Sofia Boutella, and Bill Moseley. Its plot revolves around a notorious criminal, Hero (Nicolas Cage), who is sent to rescue the governor s adopted granddaughter, who has disappeared into a dark region called Ghostland.

The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 31, 2021. The film was released in theaters and on video on demand on September 17, 2021, by RLJE Films. Critics gave the film generally mixed reviews.

Plot

In a region of Japan devastated and quarantined years ago following an accident in which highly volatile nuclear waste was spilled after a crash between the waste transport and a prison bus, a settlement called Samurai Town is ruled by an unscrupulous Governor who has blended elements of Japanese society (both modern-day and pre-modern) and the old American West together at his whim, and is keeping a harem of adopted granddaughters as his sex slaves. The outside is a wasteland known as the Ghostland, inhabited by half-crazed outcasts and victims of the irradiated environment. Just before the catastrophe, Hero, a criminal, was imprisoned in the aftermath of a botched bank robbery where his partner Psycho brutally murdered several innocent bystanders. It is later revealed that Psycho was in the prison transport which collided with the waste truck and thus set off the disaster.

One night, Bernice, one of the granddaughters , flees from the Governor s house with her friends Stella and Nanci, only to get stranded in the Ghostland. The Governor has Hero released to retrieve Bernice from the Ghostland, and outfits him with a bodysuit which is set to detonate explosive charges in case he mistreats Bernice in any way, the suit itself is tampered with, or Bernice has not been rescued within five days. When departing, Hero undertakes a parting gesture of defiance against the Governor which impresses Yasujiro, the Governor s samurai bodyguard whose sister is one of the Governor s granddaughters .

Upon entering the Ghostland, Hero is intercepted by a band of mutated men, suffers an accident and is taken by the outcasts to their cult-like enclave and their leader, Enoch. He finds Bernice among them, but she is half-catatonic from trauma. As he prepares to transport her back, Hero accidentally triggers one of his suit s explosives, which destroys one of his testicles and renders him unconscious. In a nightmare flashback, Hero recognizes Bernice as a young girl whose mother was killed while he tried to escape the police after the bank robbery and who was subsequently taken in by the Governor. Attacked by the mutants from earlier, Hero is rendered unconscious when an explosive on his arm is set off, just before the assailants vanish. However, the detonation shakes Bernice from her catatonia.

Meanwhile, Stella returns from the Ghostland and is captured by the Governor s men, who has Yasujiro execute her, which finally turns him against the Governor. Having had a revelation during his unconsciousness about his accidental role in the cataclysm, Hero stirs the Ghostlanders into a revolt against the Governor, aided by Psycho and the mutants, his fellow convicts from the fateful accident. Hero and Bernice return to Samurai Town, but when the Governor refuses to unlock the suit and Hero pretends to take Bernice hostage, Bernice s friend Susie, traumatized from the Governor s treatment of her, massacres several of his bodyguards with a minigun. Hero, Bernice, and Yasujiro overcome the remainder, then Hero faces off against and kills Yasujiro while Bernice shoots the Governor. With the oppressor dead and the outcasts liberated, Hero, Bernice, and Susie watch as Samurai Town begins to stir with new, freer life.

Cast

• Nicolas Cage as Hero
• Sofia Boutella as Bernice
• Bill Moseley as Governor
• Nick Cassavetes as Psycho
• Tak Sakaguchi as Yasujiro
• Yuzuka Nakaya as Susie
• Young Dais as Ratman
• Koto Lorena as Stella
• Canon Nawata as Nancy
• Jai West as Jay

Production

Development

In December 2018, it was announced that Sion Sono was working on his first overseas production and English-language debut, Prisoners of the Ghostland, starring Nicolas Cage. Cage said the film might be the wildest movie I ve ever made. In February 2019, shortly after Imogen Poots was cast in a starring role, Sono underwent emergency surgery following a heart attack, halting pre-production on the film. In November 2019, Sofia Boutella, Ed Skrein, Bill Moseley, Young Dais, and Tak Sakaguchi joined the cast, in undisclosed roles, from a script by Aaron Hendry and Reza Sixo Safai. Safai, Laura Rister, Michael Mendelsohn, Ko Mori, and Nate Bolotin signed on as producers.

Filming

Principal photography began on November 6, 2019, in Japan, with Sôhei Tanikawa serving as cinematographer. Filming also took place on March 31, 2020, in Los Angeles, California.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 31, 2021. RLJE Films acquired distribution rights to the film at Sundance and released it in theaters and on video on demand on September 17, 2021.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 65% based on reviews from 139 critics, with an average rating of 5.80/10. The website s critics consensus reads, Prisoners of the Ghostland is far from Sono s most distinctive work, but viewers in the mood for a deliriously gonzo genre mash-up featuring an explosive performance from Nicolas Cage just might have a ball. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 53 out of 100 based on reviews from 19 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews.

Nick Allen at RogerEbert.com gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, writing that No movie with Nicolas Cage, directed by the wonderfully weird Japanese director Sion Sono, should be this taxing, drawn out, and plainly boring. Screen Daily commented positively Sion Sono s film writing that: The film is held captive by its myriad influences, but Cage is so high-spirited that you won t mind being its prisoner . Variety wrote a mixed to positive review, sentencing: Somehow, it doesn t actually seem surprising that Cage would partner with Sono . HorrorBuzz awarded the film with a rating of 6 out of 10. Clarisse Loughrey from Independent gave to it a rating of 4/5, commenting: Sono may indulge in madness, but it s not madness without reason .

Year	2021
ReleaseDate	2021-09-17
RuntimeMins	103
RuntimeStr	1h 43min
Plot	A notorious criminal must break an evil curse in order to rescue an abducted girl who has mysteriously disappeared.
Awards	Awards, 1 nomination
Directors	Sion Sono
Writers	Aaron Hendry, Reza Sixo Safai
Stars	Nicolas Cage, Sofia Boutella, Nick Cassavetes
Produced by	Nate Bolotin,Brian David Cange,Tamotsu Kanamori,Yasuo Kawashima,Mari Matsuda,Michael Mendelsohn,Ko Mori,Katie Peabody,Natalie Perrotta,Laura Rister,Yûji Sadai,Reza Sixo Safai,Shôhei Sano,Nick Spicer,Goichiro Suzuki,Aram Tertzakian,Toyoyuki Yokohama
Music by	Joseph Trapanese
Cinematography by	Sôhei Tanikawa
Film Editing by	Taylor Levy
Casting By	Chelsea Ellis Bloch
Production Design by	Toshihiro Isomi
Costume Design by	Chieko Matsumoto
Makeup Department	Ayumi Akita,Masaaki Fukuda,Hama,Yume Inoue,Natsumi Kameyama,Naoko Kimura,Reon Kimura,Yukio Matsushita,Rina Michomoto,Shu Morine,Takehito Nachi,Shohei Nagata,Kana Nagumo,Keiko Nakanishi,Kenta Otsuji,Kazuhide Shimohata,Kaori Suzuki,Masako Takahashi,Sôichi Umezawa,Ayato Uno,Pamela Warden,Akira Yamada,Ami Yamada,Nozomi Yamamoto,Hidenori Yamaoka
Production Management	Yuki Matsumoto,Michelle Sullivan
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Toshihiro Karuishi,Masaaki Kudô,Shinya Masuda,Sadayuki Mizushima,Kentaro Nishikido,Philip Seeger,Ryô Shimazoe,Kae Takeyari,Tokuhiro Yasukawa
Art Department	Mitsuto Aoki,Takashi Aonuma,Yumiko Asano,Hideki Fujii,Ruka Fujii,Satoshi Fujikawa,Keita Gohara,Masaki Habuchi,Yoko Haramitsu,Yasushi Hashimoto,Hiroyoki Hata,Manabu Higuchi,Takeshi Ikeda,Tomotaka Inokuchi,Kana Inoue,Kenji Inoue,Shinya Ishida,Masahiro Ishino,Yuki Ito,Toshiaki Itoi,Atsushi Kakimoto,Sora Kawai,Toshiyuki Kimura,Koji Kinjyo,Gentaro Kishino,Hideki Kitagawa,Ryota Kitagawa,Nana Kitaji,Masatoshi Kobayashi,Yoshiki Kobayashi,Koji Kono,Ryota Kotaka,Seiji Kuramoto,Michitoshi Kurokawa,Tomohiro Kuroki,Ryuji Maeda,Ryo Maeta,Mariko Maruyama,Takashi Maruyama,Akiko Matsuba,Tomoaki Matsuda,Jun Matsumoto,Tetsuya Mori,Yusuke Murayama,Koji Nagasawa,Michio Nagata,Sumiya Nakahara,Kimihiko Nakamura,Takuya Nakatsuka,Risshi Nishimura,Yasuharu Nishimura,Eiji Nomura,Shota Nozaki,Kiyotaka Ohara,Shintaro Okada,Norimitsu Okihara,Alex Paille,Atsushi Sahara,Nobuko Sezawa,Nozomi Shibahara,Shotaro Shibata,Masaru Shimobayashi,Kazuyoshi Someya,Ryôta Suga,Koji Sugimura,Kaho Sugitani,Fumiaki Suzaka,Kazuo Suzuki,Mamoru Suzuki,Ken Takahashi,Kenichiro Takahashi,Tsuyoshi Tamamura,Yoko Teraoka,Yoshiyuki Tsuchinaga,Toshiyasu Tsuji,Shusaku Tsukamoto,Daisuke Tsushima,Emiko Tsuyuki,Kazaki Uemura,Eri Yamamoto,Masashi Yamamoto,Takeshi Yanagisawa,Nobumasa Ôba
Sound Department	Troy Ambroff,Arnold Antony,Geraud Delreiux,Takumi Iida,Hajime Komiya,Greg Mauer,Takamaro Murahara,Kazuto Naitô,Kai Sawamura,Tatsuya Shimada,Noriyoshi Yoshida,Jesus Rodriguez
Special Effects by	Akiyama,Hiroyuki Hatori,Toshimitsu Takamizawa,Kazuyoshi Yamada,Yutaka Yokoi
Visual Effects by	Adrian Alanis,Evelyn Anaid Avilés Ramírez,Ernesto Céspedes,Ivo Dukcevic,Alejandro Echeverry,Jose Alfredo Guillen Flores,Joaquin Garcia,Evan Ghigliotty,Luis Gorriz,María Fernanda Gómez,Matt Hartle,Chris Hoffman,Ingrid Juliao,Francisco Larula,Ignacio Lecu,Victoria Lee,Silvina Lesa Brown,George Loucas,David R. Baños Morales,Benjamin Mullin,Issei Oda,Rachel Pelc,Adrián Pierral,Daniel Pierral,Aaron Rovner,Matthew Dean Russell,Matt Wilson
Stunts	Yûki Ashida,Toru Fukushima,Ken Goto,Kazuki Hamatani,Masaki Inatome,Takahiro Ishihara,Isao Karasawa,Satoshi Kibe,Kazuki Miki,Yasuhiro Motojima,Kazuya Murakami,Masahito Okamoto,Kazuya Osumi,Makoto Sakaguchi,Tak Sakaguchi,Kazuyoshi Sakuma,Yousuke Shibata,Masaki Suzumura,Hiroto Tanaka,Takashi Tanimoto,Umi Tanoue,Tsutomu Uchigasaki,Kazunori Yajima,Hiroaki Yamamoto,Munenori Yao
Camera and Electrical Department	Moe Ariizumi,Mahiro Asanuma,Kôichi Furuya,Satomi Hayashi,Hironobu Iwasaki,Ryôtarô Kawaguchi,Hideyuki Kawaminami,Daisuke Komoda,Keisuke Maeda,Yuka Mashiro,Hiroki Nakajima,Ryusuke Nakamura,Yosuke Nakatani,Tatsuhiro Nishiyama,Yotaro Okada,Shôhei Okuda,Fumiaki Okuma,Shoji Omatsu,Takeshi Onoue,Shunri Rinoie,Katsumi Shikano,Nozomi Suzuki,Shigeru Tajima,Naoki Takahashi,Satoshi Takashima,Toshirô Watanabe,Masaya Yamashita
Casting Department	Sachiko Chikuda,Eri Kawamura,Takafumi Kubota,Eiko Nakamura,Nobuyuki Okahara,Ai Ootsubo,Andjela Prnjak,Masa Shimotori,Shiho Tochihara,Yuka Ueno
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Koshiro Ebata,Arisa Enomoto,Nanami Hayashi,Yukako Hihara,Manami Kato,Yuji Makino,Masae Miyamoto,Ryo Murakami,Mei Nishimura,Momizi Ochiai,Kyoko Omura,Mikio Sakabe,Eri Saruta,Masashi Takahashi,Yu Tanaka,Yuka Tomura,Vanemi,Seiya Yabuuchi
Editorial Department	Malgorzata Grzyb,Marcus Heleker,Wojciech Janio,Sarah Lillian Pachter,Jijo Reed,Christelle Zeinoun
Location Management	Masakazu Chou,Toshirou Enomoto,Yoshitaka Hamada,Yukiko Honma,Yoshiaki Kamonji,Haruka Kanaizuka,Makoto Kariya,Tomohiro Matsushita,Munehiko Mekada,Jun Shibano,Yukika Tsuji,Takashi Yabushita,Xianze Zeng
Music Department	John Michael Caldwell,John W. Chapman,Anthony Circo,Max Davidoff-Grey,Jeff Fitzpatrick,Bryan Lawson,Jason Lazarus,Clark Rhee,Joseph Trapanese,Derek Zeoli
Script and Continuity Department	Yûko Harada,Atsuko Tsuji
Transportation Department	Hideo Fukuda,Hiroyuki Hasegawa,Takeshi Hashimoto,Kunio Hiraki,Yukitoshi Horikawa,Eiji Ikeda,Satoru Inoue,Katsuaki Kaieda,Shintaro Kawauchi,Kazuma Mitsunaga,Yuuki Mitsunaga,Isamu Murakami,Riki Muramatsu,Junichi Ono,Yoshinori Otsuki,Jun Sekido,Kazuhiko Takeuchi,Katsunori Takoya,Masahiro Yoshinaga,Takahito Yoshitani
Additional Crew	Daniel Bird,Scott Cohen,Alicia Cota,Tokihiko Endô,Michael Filosa,Kai Hayashi,Motomu Ishigaki,Kiyotake Ishii,Amelie Khuat,Carissa Knol,Nobuyuki Kondo,Lisa,Misaki Matsui,Caitlin McCrann,Tetsuhide Mitsumine,Miyoshi,Hayato Miyoshi,Hitomi Morikawa,Miki Niina,Ganta Oka,Asami Ozaki,Songjun Park,Chris Platt,Maiko Tamura,Yasutake Torii,Lisa Toyama,Constant Voisin,Lucas Wallenberg,Ryan Webb,Haruna Yokoyama,Kazuhisa Yusa,Rene Alexander,Michael Mendelsohn
Thanks	Markus Blunder,Walter Boholst,Todd Brown,Rachael Conrad,Maxime Cottray,Pamela Delaney,Scott Freije,David Gaynes,Teruya Hisamori,Tatyana Joffe,Keisuke Kageyama,Tatsuya Kageyama,Shogo Kanemoto,Sanjeev M.,Yuichiro Maeda,Satoshi Mashida,Bachi McCurdy,Francesca Musumeci,Hisao Nabeshima,Pip Ngo,Michael Nilon,Keiki Nishimura,Tsutomu Okuno,Aziannida Samingan,Linda Schortz,Michael Sherman,Stephanie Simon,Noémie Sornet,Hollace Starr,Katrina Wan,Mark Ward,Jason Weinberg,Alex Williams,Mandy Yaeger,Daijiro Yamaguchi,Shin Yamaguchi
Genres	Fantasy, Horror, Thriller
Companies	Patriot Pictures, Eleven Arts, Baked Studios
Countries	USA, Japan
Languages	English, Japanese, Mandarin, French
ImDbRating	4.2
ImDbRatingVotes	11417
MetacriticRating	53
Keywords	rescue,heist gone wrong,japan,geisha,exploding suit