Directed by Aron Nee and Adam Nee, “The Lost City” does not bring anything new to the plate. It does not even try to create a true narrative. It gives in to the gimmicks and the cliches of the genre. But even after all this, it is utterly enjoyable. “The Lost City” takes you on a delightful journey. It takes you to a world that you have heard about, and in full probability, even visited more than once before, but still wouldn’t hinder your spirits, and you would once again want to hop onto the roller coaster ride. The film, in its essence, is exactly how you would define the word oxymoron. It is an over-the-top fantasy, but you buy it, enjoy it, and get invested in it.
Even before entering the theater, you know exactly what you are signing up for. The film’s title, “The Lost City” itself is able to create a specific image in your mind, and you know what you should expect and what you should not. But 10 minutes into the running time, and you find yourself cracking up, but then you recoil your sensibilities that ought to be subtle in nature. Just look around, and you find the reaction to be ubiquitous.
“The Lost City” boasts a star cast that includes Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliff, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. The cherry on the cake is a cameo by Brad Pitt, who, as always, has an infectious energy that communicates with you and makes his presence very firmly felt. The story was written by Seth Gorden and has been adapted for the screen by Oren Uziel, Dana Fox, Adam Nee, and Aron Nee. So let’s dive directly into the narrative and take a journey to find the fabled Lost City.
Major Spoilers Ahead
Who Kidnaps Loretta Sage?
Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) just doesn’t want to go ahead with her book tour. She tells her good friend and the manager of the tour, Beth Hatten (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), that she is just not finding the passion to promote her book. She detests her writing but is even more averse to the cover model of her book, Alan. After her husband passed away, Loretta was not able to cope with the loss. She had suffered a bereavement and found herself devoid of any passion and lacking fervor. Even after her novel was loved by people all over, she scorned her writing and had just reached a point of exhaustion. She had also made up her mind that she wasn’t going to come up with another installment.
Alan, though, was in a totally contrasting state of mind. He was a model who had been approached to feature in Loretta’s book. The book became famous, and people started recognizing him. They considered him a living personification of the protagonist of the novel, named Dash. Alan believes it to be his reality. Loretta, time and again, makes him realize that he is Alan and Dash is just a fictional character in her novel, The Lost City of D.
Loretta often belittles him as being merely brawny without any brains. Though Alan gets disheartened by the insult, he never even once retaliates in a brash manner. He wants to prove to Loretta that he is not as shallow as she considers him to be. Yes, he is not an intellectual who keeps himself up to date with the socio-political affairs of the country, but he has a profundity of thought. He gets affected by the things she says, but tags along, looking out for her convenience and well-being.
The press conference ends shortly after Alan falls from the stage, with his blonde wig ripped off, and Loretta announces that she is not going to write another sequel to the novel franchise. An exasperated Loretta goes out of the hotel, where she is picked up by two strangers. They forcefully make her sit in the car and take her to an unknown place. Alan sees her getting kidnapped and tells Beth and Allison, the PR/social media manager, about the same.
Loretta comes to know that she has been kidnapped by the business tycoon, Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliff). He tells Loretta that the Lost City that she talked about in her novels was actually not merely a figment of her imagination. He had reason to believe that the palace actually existed. He showed Loretta a parchment that had symbols that he was not able to decipher. He also wanted to take her to the site where he had his men digging in the area in the hope that they would find the priceless treasure. Loretta doesn’t want to go as she feels that Abigail was taking the whole “fantasy” thing too seriously. So Abigail and his henchmen once again force her into a helicopter and take her to a remote island somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.
What Was The Well Of Endless Tears?
Alan contacts his mentor, Jack Trainer, to come on board to find Loretta. They reach the location, tracking Loretta’s smartwatch. They rescue Loretta, and Abigail orders her men to go after them. Loretta takes the parchment, which had cryptic symbols on it, with her. She tries to decipher what’s written on it. Abigail’s men find the trio and shoot Jack Trainer, smashing his head into pieces. Loretta and Alan run for their lives. Loretta deciphers a clue from the parchment that she had stolen from Abigail. It mentioned a well of endless tears. She thinks of it as some kind of metaphor, but later, when she gets to talk to the locals, she gets to know that, in fact, it is an actual location. The folklore says that when Calaman, the king, passed away, his wife, Queen Taha, couldn’t get over the grief. She cried for days and was later buried in the same spot. The site where they were buried was called the “Well of Endless Tears.” Nobody knew where it was. Loretta relates to the story as she also likes Queen Taha, who was mourning the death of her husband and couldn’t get over the fact that he was not there.
‘The Lost City’ Ending Explained: Does Abigail Fairfax Find The Crown Of Fire? Why Did Rafi Help Loretta And Alan?
It was said that the tombs of Calaman and Taha had a crown of fire. Abigail Fairfax wanted to get that as he knew that the value of the artifact in the market would be huge. His mother finds Alan and Loretta once again. At gunpoint, Abigail, together with his henchman Rafi, takes Alan and Loretta to the claustrophobic caves, where they speculate the tomb will be. To his disappointment, Abigail finds out that the crown of fire was nothing but a token of love from Calaman to Taha. It was made of inexpensive shells. Abigail orders his henchman Rafi to put both Loretta and Alan inside the sarcophagus where Calaman and Taha were once buried. Rafi belonged to the indigenous tribe, and he had stories about Calaman and his queen, Taha. The tribe that Rafi belonged to believed that the tomb should not be disturbed as it would bring a catastrophe to their island. When Abigail Fairfax puts Loretta and Alan inside the sarcophagus, Rafi leaves an iron rod inside. Loretta and Alan later opened the heavy stone lid using that.
Rafi has had a change of heart. He takes the boat and ditches Abigail. Beth comes to the rescue with police officials. They arrest Abigail and save Loretta and Alan.
Final Words
The adventure changes Loretta from the inside. She realizes how much of a support Alan has been, without whom she wouldn’t have been able to come out alive. She realizes that she was downgrading Alan as just a dumb model who didn’t have any emotional depth. Loretta starts seeing the brighter side of things and moves on from the loss of her husband. She loved him, but life had to go on. She finds a partner in Alan. They fall in love, and Loretta decides to finally write the sequel.
“The Lost City,” is a 2022 Adventure Drama film directed by Aron Nee and Adam Nee. With a tight screenplay and effective punches, it keeps you entertained throughout its running time and is definitely worth a watch.
