In the Lost Lands Review

“This is not a fairytale,” says the main character at the beginning of In The Lost Lands. As a matter of fact, he is right. This is not a fairytale, despite having some key elements that are rooted in fables and fiction, such as the focus on magic, werewolves, and magical objects in the movie’s narrative. And yet, it feels a lot more like an adventure blockbuster than anything else. More action-based than fantasy, this film definitely has an audience somewhere, but it might not appeal to the same viewers who appreciated the political intrigue of Game of Thrones and the originality of its world-building.

Based on a short story of the same name by George R. R. Martin, In The Lost Lands takes place in a fantasy land where the audience meets Gray Alys (Milla Jovovich), a powerful witch who has to fulfill the wishes of anyone who asks her. At the beginning of the film, she takes on a new mission as requested by the queen Melange (Amara Okereke) who is desperate to find love and change her life. To fulfill her promise to the queen, Gray Alys must embark on a journey to the Lost Lands to find a werewolf who lives there and recruits Boyce (Dave Bautista), a mysterious hunter, to help her navigate this mysterious land and the dangers that come with it, especially as the local Church, headed by Ash (Arly Jover) will stop at nothing to get rid of her.

The setting of the film initially seems fascinating. The fantasy land we are introduced to does not seem so unlikely our own, bearing a significant amount of similarities to the Medieval times – as fans of Martin’s writing would know, this is what the writer does best after all – which could have allowed the movie to make a statement on some significant issues of today. ittedly, it does try and invite reflection on our current political scenario in the way organised religion is included in the plot, for example, but ultimately fails to deliver any sort of commentary that would stay with the audience during the film. A lot of the parallels with our own politics often feel forced as the film goes on and not explored nearly enough to deliver something meaningful, as the majority of these are brushed to the side to focus on the action parts of the film rather than its narrative.

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Unfortunately, as the movie goes on it constantly feels like there was very little attention paid to its narrative elements. For instance, the worldbuilding of this fantasy land is very poorly delivered: we don’t know anything about the titular lost lands or why they would be so dangerous for the main characters to step in, which ultimately affects the stakes of the entire movie. Similarly, it never really delivers the political conflict in the way it might have wanted to as the film never establishes the way this fantasy world works in of who rules this world unknown to us and how this affects the common people.

The magic system also suffers from an equal lack of exploration, which is particularly concerning as the main character is established to be a powerful witch. But the way her magic works is never explained to the audience, thus creating a disconnect with her character and making her magical powers feel like a deus ex machina, only brought in and introduced throughout the film to resolve problems and plot issues that the film could not otherwise get around.

Most of the issues with this film come from purely a screenwriting point of view which ends up inevitably hurting its entire narrative, making it feel incredibly slow and overtly long despite its rather short 95-minute runtime on paper. Even without getting into some of the plotholes that the viewer can’t help but notice towards the end of the film, the narrative side of the film fails to deliver the premise of what could have been an interesting story but instead exclusively relies on exposition, and predictable plot twists that fail to surprise us, and characters whose backstory is barely or badly explored.

ittedly, the visual part of In The Lost Lands is a lot more interesting, with the fascinating use of colour and lights to transport us into a fantasy land and create the feeling of otherworldliness that such a story relies on. However, it is hard to overlook the writing difficulties in a movie that seems to solely focus on slow-motion scenes and action sequences. Perhaps this might be the movie for you if you are interested in some well-done action and fight scenes, but it was not for me, as someone who was more interested in the fantasy and social commentary element of its plot.