Starring Nicolas Cage and Sofia Boutella, Prisoners of the Ghostland marks Sono’s first American feature – with a caveat. In Sono’s latest film, Prisoners of the Ghostland, a woman flees her hometown and home-dimension to cohabitate with the undead in a parallel world known as Ghostland – it’s destined to become a cult movie in more ways than one. In both Suicide Club and The Forest of Love, uniformed students hold hands and leap to their death. In Noriko’s Dinner Table, a 17-year-old girl runs away to join strangers she’s met online. In Love Exposure, Zero Church prey on young loners deprived of affection. “ Love Exposure and Suicide Club were heavily influenced by my experiences there.”Ĭults and gangs, particularly their allure to alienated teenagers, occur throughout Sono’s filmography.
I really enjoyed eating there – but I didn’t enjoy all the things that came with it.” In order to escape, he had to join another cult. Before I joined, a cult member told me that food would be provided. “When I was 17, I joined a cult because I was completely skint,” Sion Sono casually tells me, via an interpreter, from his home in Tokyo.
