Governor (Bill Moseley) offers a job to the protagonist (Nicolas Cage), a former bank robber who is responsible for the deaths of at least eight people, to search and bring back Governor’s lovely granddaughter, Bernice (Sofia Boutella). It’s believed that Bernice is captured, and currently held a prisoner in the Ghostland.

The protagonist is tricked to wear a special bodysuit equipped with explosive devices. If he tries to harm a helpless woman or attempts to remove bodysuit, the sensor will trigger the explosives to detonate. The bodysuit can only be unlocked with the key which Governor promises to give him as a reward when the protagonist returns Bernice safely.

Although the protagonist has only three days to find Bernice, and she must speak her name into the microphone embed on his bodysuit’s left arm to disable the detonation. Once Bernice’s voice is confirmed, the device will reward the protagonist with two extra days to return and get the suit removed before all the explosives detonate at the end of five days.

The protagonist is intercepted by a group of mysterious figures while he tries to enter the Ghostland. Later he finds himself injured and trapped inside the Ghostland, the place where people are unable to leave after a catastrophic accident happened many years ago when a truck carrying liquid radioactive waste struck a prison bus.

The entire city burst into flames and toxic waste has poisoned everything. They believe that the protagonist is Hero from the prophecy destined to liberate them all.

PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND is the first English-language film directed by Sion Sono (園子温), a Japanese filmmaker who wrote and directed 自殺サークル (Suicide Club) in 2001 which became his breakthrough feature. This film, by far is one of the weirdest films I’ve ever seen.

It’s visually stunning and mind boggling at the same time in the land of parallel post-apocalyptic world where East meets West literally, Japanese Samurai and Western Cowboys coexist in the same town run by evil Governor dressed in all-white suit who also owns the biggest brothel filled with caged prostitutes. It’s like a combination of MAD MAX and BATTLE ROYALE which is entertaining to watch, especially that epic fight scene between Nicolas Cage and TAK∴.

But when it comes to storytelling, the screenwriters instead leave many things unexplained. One thing that keeps bothering me is they never explain why the people in the Ghostland trying to stop the giant clock hand from moving forward. Are they stuck in the time loop in which they will die again and again at a specific time?

And they can’t runaway because those mutants block their way out. But the clock isn’t the time itself, so basically stopping the clock hand from moving doesn’t really stop the time. Perhaps time works differently in the Ghostland where people may or may not be dead?

PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 31, 2021. The film was theatrically released in the U.S. on September 17, 2021, and also made available on Video On Demand as well. プリズナーズ・オブ・ゴーストランド is scheduled for theatrical release in Japan on October 8, 2021.