Kicking off Thursday, January 28th the legendary Sundance Film Festival 2021 digital edition is in full swing! One of this year’s most hotly anticipated features is Sion Sono‘s English language debut, PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND, which will have its world premiere on January 31st.
The movie that star Nicolas Cage has called perhaps his ‘wildest’ yet, PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND tells the story of a ruthless criminal (Cage) who finds himself imprisoned in the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town. Sprung from jail by wealthy warlord, The Governor (Bill Moseley), whose adopted granddaughter, Bernice (Sofia Boutella) has gone missing, The Governor offers the prisoner his freedom in exchange for retrieving the runaway. Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within five days, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman—and his own path to redemption.
Scripted by Aaron Hendry and Reza Sixo Safai, PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND sees Sono working on what may be the largest scale of his career – with a big international cast and humongous set pieces. Sundance describes the film as “a delirious mash-up of Western, samurai, and postapocalyptic thriller” and a “sly spoof of the mythical hero’s journey” featuring Cage in “one of his most unhinged performances to date.”
PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND premieres this Sunday, January 31st with a second screening to follow on February 2nd. For more details and ticket info visit the Sundance 2021 website.
