Prisoners of the Ghostland

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Prisoners of the Ghostland

2021

1h 40m

Action

Adventure

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

62%

Tomatometer

159 Reviews

48%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber (Nicolas Cage) is sprung from jail by a wealthy warlord, The Governor (Bill Moseley), whose adopted granddaughter Bernice (Sofia Boutella) has run away. Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within five days if he doesn't find the missing girl, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman -- and his own path to redemption.

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Critics Consensus

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.

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Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

Sep 19, 2021

2/5

Utterly barmy.

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Richard Roeper

Chicago Sun-Times

Sep 17, 2021

2/4

Prisoners of the Ghostland isn't campy enough to be camp.

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Nick Allen

RogerEbert.com

Sep 17, 2021

2/4

No movie with Nicolas Cage, directed by the wonderfully weird Japanese director Sion Sono, should be this taxing, drawn out, and plainly boring.

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Noah Berlatsky

Everything is Horrible (Substack)

Apr 25, 2026

Part of the magic and beauty of movies, Sono seems to say, is that at least for a little bit they and you don’t need to make any sense.

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Maxance Vincent

InSession Film

Mar 5, 2024

D

Prisoners of the Ghostland lacks any excitement and catharsis that made Sono the filmmaker he is today.

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Manuel São Bento

MSB Reviews (Ghost.io)

Jul 24, 2023

A-

A world of total anarchy where samurais, cowboys, nuclear explosions, modern cars, and more collide to surround an otherwise simple narrative with nonsensically hilarious storylines and awesome action sequences.

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logan mac

Sep 21, 2021

This film is not for everyone, by no stretch of the imagination. But if this is the film for you, it is hands down the craziest Nicolas Cage movie ever made. Im not sure how to describe it, a Japanese Arthouse Fantasy Western? The trailer for the movie makes it seem as if its a balls to the wall action flick. It is not that at all. While we do get some great fight scenes, this is more of a slow, mythical, almost dream like adventure. If you want some nice Cageplotation, I would highly recommend this movie. There is a scene so crazy in this movie, my jaw dropped to the floor...

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Deanna

Sep 20, 2021

I thoroughly enjoyed this most recent Nick Cage film. It was gore filled, a great nod to kabuki noh style plays. I really enjoyed the symbolism and the dreamlike style was reministent of othe films I enjoy such as Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

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Knots

Sep 19, 2021

Cowboys and Samurais in the post apocalypse are badass.

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Randal S

@RT96217402 Aug 24, 2026

This is a very strange, but interesting film. The story is kind of all over the place. Nicholas Cage is an over the top joy to watch, all the way down to his quoting Shakespeare and Jesus Christ, Superstar. If you enjoy odd movies, like the films of Yorgos Lanthimose, give it a go. It's not as good as his films, but that's like comparing someone who does toilet humor movies to Kevin Smith... One is a talented amateur and the other is a master of his craft.

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Eduardo Luiz R

@EduardoManolo Aug 7, 2026

Não entendi nada, mas tem um visual estiloso e creio que o Nicolas Cage gostou de fazer esse filme.

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Mike T

@MikeT411 Jul 11, 2026

This movie was not only weird, but terrible. I just don't get how anyone could enjoy this film. What happened to Nicholas Cage? He was actually someone whose name appeared and I looked forward to watching his movies. Don't waste your time on this nonsense!

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Sion Sono

Director

Nicolas Cage

Hero

Sofia Boutella

Bernice

Nick Cassavetes

Psycho

Bill Moseley

The Governor

Tak Sakaguchi

Yasujiro

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Synopsis

In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber (Nicolas Cage) is sprung from jail by a wealthy warlord, The Governor (Bill Moseley), whose adopted granddaughter Bernice (Sofia Boutella) has run away. Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within five days if he doesn't find the missing girl, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman -- and his own path to redemption.

Director: Sion Sono
Producer: Nate Bolotin, Michael Mendelsohn, Ko Mori, Laura Rister, Reza Sixo Safai
Screenwriter: Aaron Hendry, Reza Sixo Safai
Distributor: RLJE Films
Production Co: RLJE Films, Eleven Arts, Patriot Pictures, Untitled Entertainment, Boos Boos Bang Bang, XYZ Films, Baked Studios
Genre: Action, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 17, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 17, 2021
Runtime: 1h 40m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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