Polygon by Matt Patches

It’s one of the director’s more mainstream efforts. What could easily devolve into a Crank-like exercise in hyperactivity is conducted with a steady hand and an appreciation for the details. Sono wants his audience to luxuriate in the brutal beauty of Boutella wielding a gatling gun.

New York Magazine (Vulture) by Bilge Ebiri

Sion Sono’s Prisoners of the Ghostland throws so much extreme weirdness and violence at us that we might overlook the fact that there’s method to its madness: Beneath the craziness and cacophony lies a tender, tragic tale of emotional paralysis and a civilization eating away at itself.

Film Threat by Lorry Kikta

I think that Prisoners of the Ghostland belongs in the category that was previously only really reserved for Jodorowsky’s El Topo, and that is the Acid Western. It embodies and revives that category of movie. If you like Westerns, martial arts, Japanese cinema, Nicolas Cage, or anything weird AF, then this is certainly for you.

The Playlist by Jessica Kiang

It’s not very good except sometimes when it’s fantastic.

Paste Magazine by Dom Sinacola

Ghostland is a movie and place borne from nuclear disaster, populated with the denizens of countless B-movies and the spectres of whiplash Hollywood careers.

IGN by Siddhant Adlakha

You know exactly what brand of “weird” to expect from Nicolas Cage and Sion Sono, but what you might not expect is how much the film feels like a death dream about movies.

We Got This Covered by Scott Campbell

Prisoners of the Ghostland isn't going to be for everyone, but if you're on board with one of the craziest movies you'll see this year, then strap in and prepare for Nicolas Cage at his most unhinged.

Screen Daily by Tim Grierson

The film is held captive by its myriad influences, but Cage is so high-spirited that you won’t mind being its prisoner.

IndieWire by David Ehrlich

Even when nothing else in the film makes sense, the unhinged ethos of its own creation leaves a clue behind with the clarity of a body-chalk outline.

New York Post by Sara Stewart

Prisoners of the Ghostland is equal parts visual delight and narrative head-scratcher. Most of all, it’s a hefty dose of Nicolas Cage set to full-tilt gonzo.

Total Film by Jordan Farley

Prisoners of the Ghostland exists entirely outside the norms and conventions of moviemaking. Really there’s only one word to describe it: nuts.

The Film Stage by Jordan Raup

The actual experience of watching this gonzo dystopian samurai western is far from the shock-a-minute journey that one would expect, but even in its more banal sequences, Sono’s imaginative eye peeks through.

Slashfilm by Ben Pearson

A maniacal whirlwind of cinematic insanity, it feels equally likely that Prisoners of the Ghostland could become a cult classic or disappear into the fog. Whether its overall inscrutability is a bug or a feature remains to be seen.

Variety by Peter Debruge

Somehow, it doesn’t actually seem surprising that Cage would partner with Sono. But the creative choices they make together, from an exploding gumball machine to endangered testicles — well, they must be seen to be believed.

TheWrap by Alonso Duralde

While the film far outshines most of Cage’s recent efforts (he was direct-to-VOD when direct-to-VOD wasn’t cool) in terms of art direction and fearlessly madcap storytelling, the results are nonetheless muddled and messy.

The Hollywood Reporter by John DeFore

It alternates between too simplistic and incomprehensible, spending much of its time in between those poles in the "I understand, but I don't care" zone.