Milla, Bautista, and Digital Demons – Oh My! A Review of In the Lost Lands (2025)

A queen sends the powerful and feared sorceress Gray Alys to the ghostly wilderness of the Lost Lands in search of a magical power, where the sorceress and her guide, the drifter Boyce, must outwit and outfight man and demon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMyrp5Vk3mU

Oh, George R.R. Martin. The man who gave us A Song of Ice and Fire – the series that not only redefined fantasy TV but also made us re-think our approach to character deaths and incestuous relationships...EWWWW. So, when news hit that he was attached to the film adaptation of his own short story In the Lost Lands, we all got a little curious. After all, Game of Thrones wasn’t just a show; it was a cultural reset. So, surely this post-apocalyptic fantasy flick about a sorceress searching for magical power in a wasteland would hit all the right notes, right? Uh, not quite.

Plot Breakdown: Wastelands and Wizards

The story centers on Gray Alys (played by Milla Jovovich), a sorceress so feared that she could probably outwit a demon, a man, and most definitely your average Tuesday morning nuke attack. Sent by a queen to search for a magical power in the "Lost Lands," Alys is paired up with Boyce (Dave Bautista), your stereotypical drifter, who's clearly been hanging out in the wrong places if you know what I mean. They must outsmart and outfight their way through various bad guys, demons, and, let’s not forget, the endlessly predictable plot devices Hollywood insists on using these days.

A post-apocalyptic setting? Check. Wasteland warriors? Check. Magic powers? Check. Oh, and don’t forget the whole “religion’s the bad guy” theme. Because, as we all know, in post-apocalyptic films, the real antagonist is always some high-and-mighty religious zealot wielding more power than your average wizard. Yawn.

Now, let’s talk about the titular “Lost Lands” – a vast wilderness that seems like a great place to get lost, if only the movie could’ve figured out how to make it feel less... cheesy. I mean, the CGI? Don’t get me started. You’d think with Martin’s name attached, we’d get something with a bit more weight to it, but no. Instead, we get the kind of effects that make Resident Evil look like Citizen Kane by comparison.

What I Liked: Post-Apocalyptic Chaos With a Side of Cheese

Look, I’ve got a thing for post-apocalyptic fantasy. I’m talking Mad Max meets The Road with a sprinkle of sorcery, and that’s what this film tries to give us. Mila Jovovich’s battle-hardened sorceress does bring some much-needed gravitas to the proceedings, especially considering how many times the script drags us through clichés faster than you can say, “Do you guys have any original ideas?”

There are flashes of genuine goodness here, especially in the fight scenes. I mean, Bautista has a way of making a punch feel like a punch, and when Milla’s on the screen, she’s got the whole “post-apocalyptic badass” thing nailed down. The problem is that every so often, you feel like you’ve seen this all before – Book of Eli, Resident Evil, Army of the Dead. It’s like someone threw every post-apocalyptic trope into a blender, hit “puree,” and then sprinkled in a little fantasy flavor for good measure.

But hey, it’s still a B-movie, and for what it is, it’s kinda fun. If you enjoy movies that have a certain... B-movie charm, you’ll probably enjoy this. It’s like a guilty pleasure, but don’t expect it to be your next cinematic masterpiece.

What I Disliked: The Death of Creativity and the Age of Predictable Villains

Where do I begin? With the plot? The CGI? The overly familiar tropes that just won’t die? Let’s talk about the script first. It feels like it was written by a committee who couldn’t decide whether to make a B C or D-movie or something with more substance. The dialogue? Cheesy. The bad guys? So predictable. In fact, they’re so good at finding the heroes in the wasteland with basically no clues, you’d think they had an air pod tucked into Mila's boots.

Now, I get it – it’s a post-apocalyptic world. Things are supposed to be bleak. But when every villain is a religious zealot with a giant axe to grind, it kind of loses its luster. We’ve seen it before in countless movies, and frankly, it’s getting old. Can we get a new bad guy for once? I don’t know – maybe an angry scientist or a mad cowboy? Something different, please.

Also, can we talk about the special effects? I mean, I appreciate the attempt, but the green-screen backgrounds and cheap CGI creatures just don’t do it. It’s as if the film couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a gritty survival movie or a high fantasy adventure, and the result is something that’s neither here nor there. Honestly, the effects are so hit-and-miss, I half expected to see someone in a rubber demon suit at some point.

Extra Tidbits: The “Behind-the-Scenes” Drama

For a movie that took years to make, there’s a surprising lack of originality on screen. At one point, Keanu Reeves and Nicolas Cage were both in talks for the role of Boyce. Let’s just stop right there – imagine that. Two of the most iconic actors of our time in a movie that feels straight to DVD. Can we get a “what could’ve been” for this one? They eventually landed on Dave Bautista, who does his best with the material, but you can’t help but wonder how this could’ve been a little more epic with a different direction.

The film also holds the distinction of being the first to feature more digital actors than actual, corporeal ones. You know what that means, right? We’re living in the future, people. A world where computer-generated imagery has outnumbered humans in movies. Is this progress or is this just an excuse for lazy film-making?

Lastly, In the Lost Lands was originally intended to be the first in a series of stories centered around Gray Alys. Too bad Martin never followed through with it. But, if the movie does well enough, he’ll write a sequel. Fingers crossed we don’t get another CGI monster.

Final Thoughts: A Dystopian Flick With a Touch of Fantasy and a Whole Lotta Cheesiness

Look, In the Lost Lands isn’t a bad movie, it’s just... not a great one either. The performances are decent, the fight scenes are fun, but the plot is as thin as the CGI demon that keeps popping up to remind us that there are real dangers out there. It’s a glorified B-movie with some charming moments and some painfully predictable ones. If you’re into post-apocalyptic fantasies and can turn off your brain for a while, you might find something here. But for everyone else? You’re probably better off watching the original Mad Max again.

Rating: 5.9/10