Box office results have not been this disappointing for original movies in a while. As of now, all four of the top-grossing movies in 2024 are sequels, with the romantic drama It Ends With Us peeking in at #11. Earlier this year, one of the more promising original films appeared to be Alex Garland’s Civil War, a not-too-distant future sci-fi drama that seemed to encapsulate America’s political and cultural turmoil, especially during an election year.
Set in a frightening not-so-distant future America, the film revolves around a civil war which is never quite explained. It is quite predictable in terms of plot progression, with lackluster characters at the center. I honestly could have consumed such mindless content from a cheap news channel for free.
Mackenzie Donaldsons’ sophomore feature, All the Lost Ones, at the very least has a properly defined conflict and is populated by characters that seem to care. Set in a fictitious future that uses contemporary stock footage, a right-wing militia group called the United Conservancy has declared war due to Government Climate Change Mitigation Policies. Somehow, they’ve overpowered a large region of the Eastern US and Canada with the force of rifles and hummers. The Pentagon seems to be on holiday while the UC is freely damaging rural lands with only the eco-friendly fighting back, and helpless civilians residing in the middle.
While hunkering down but partying at the same time Nia (Jasmine Mathews), along with her sister Penny (Vinessa Antoine), have managed to blend together into a makeshift family living under the roof of Mikael (Steven Ogg). He is hiding in a lake house, hoping the Eastern Empire (EE) finds him before the United Confederacy (UC) does. However, everything changes when the group goes on a town supply run. Now, bloodstained, they become marks themselves, as a UC platoon led by the vicious Conrad (Devon Sawa) is on a hunting mission to exterminate the group. They are chased to the closest EE base camp, where they hope to be given refuge.
Even when trying to suspend one’s disbelief, which is quite the task in itself, explaining why a group of rednecks will cause this much destruction without any rhyme or reason is nearly impossible. An outline of a drama enacted by empty characters devoid of any depth is left behind. This means the characters, while being able to emote, give no reason for us to care.
Even if you try hard to suspend the disbelief while watching a group of rednecks cause chaos for no reason, the primitive drama will leave you with vague characters. While capable of exhibiting emotions, they lack the appeal needed to suck us in Mathews does her best with Nia, but her lines such as “I’m Black. I never had a choice” do not help her case and make it hard to work with anything other than hope to elicit some tears.
At least the majority of characters in this story have the intelligence and personality of a puddle. Not a single hint of those captivating nuances that form captivating, multi-dimensional drama is present. Only shallow black-and-white social and mainstream media stereotypes do. It’s even more puzzling why American militia culture has encroached so far north to Ontario. Usually, I lament Canadian films because they are set anywhere but Canada, but in this case, the setting works almost against what you would call the ‘truth’ of this particular narrative.
Though flawed in its execution, I still have to commend All the Lost Ones for attempting to tell a captivating Civil War tale. The actors and the mise-en-scene never fail to impress, even when the script betrays them. Ultimately, however, the film does nothing to shift perspectives or alter assumptions, so what’s really the point? But I’ll happily debate that myself while enjoying and reviewing the film instead of paying to watch.
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