Prisoners of the Ghostland

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".