The Lost City (2022)
Directed by Aaron Nee
No — The Lost City is not woke, scoring 11 out of 100 on our wokeness meter.
The Lost City arrives as a relic of an older dispensation, a star-driven action-romance that wants to be Romancing the Stone and settles for being a competent copy of a copy.
Consciousness Markers
The film utilizes the 'strong female lead' trope, where the author is empowered to solve the mystery, but this is presented within a highly traditional, escapist, and ultimately romantic framework.
The film features a standard Hollywood ensemble, with the primary roles being filled by established white stars, offering little in the way of groundbreaking or challenging representation.
The antagonist is an eccentric billionaire seeking treasure, which is a standard trope of wealth, but the film offers no genuine critique of global capitalism or systemic inequality.
While the setting is an exotic island, the film does not engage with complex racial dynamics or offer meaningful commentary on the cultural or social context of the location.
There is no discernible LGBTQ+ representation, subtext, or thematic exploration within the narrative structure of the film.
The volcanic eruption serves purely as a dramatic plot device for the climax and carries no thematic weight regarding environmentalism or climate change.
The focus remains squarely on the romantic chemistry and action sequences, with no specific commentary or celebration of diverse body types.
There are no characters who exhibit or discuss neurodivergent traits, nor is there any thematic exploration of such concepts.
The plot is based on fictional adventure and myth, offering no attempt to challenge or re-examine established historical narratives.
The film is a lighthearted action-comedy, and its resolution is driven by romance and adventure rather than didactic social commentary.
Why it received this score
The Lost City arrives as a relic of an older dispensation, a star-driven action-romance that wants to be Romancing the Stone and settles for being a competent copy of a copy. Sandra Bullock plays Loretta Sage, a reclusive novelist who has buried herself in grief and paperback deadlines. Channing Tatum plays Alan, her cover model, a man of impressive forearms and limited vocabulary. The premise is sturdy. The execution is agreeable. The nostalgia is sincere and the seams show.
Loretta does get to solve the puzzle and wield the crowbar, so the film gestures toward female agency. That gesture stays safely inside a courtship plot, and the empowerment is emotional more than structural. The villain, an eccentric billionaire hunting a crown of red seashells, is the sort of wealthy lunatic the genre has always produced. His greed is a plot engine, not an indictment. The island setting supplies jungle, villagers, and a folk song, but the film has no interest in the people who live there. Supporting players drift through the book tour and the jungle without altering the temperature of the piece.
The climax involves a volcano, deployed for spectacle and nothing else. The tomb turns out to hold grief and devotion instead of gold, which is a sweet idea and a safe one. There is no sermon here, no lecture, no attempt to instruct the audience in anything beyond the importance of kissing on a beach. The mid-credits gag revives a dead man for a laugh, which tells us where the film's priorities reside. It is a well-mannered diversion. We classify it, we file it, and we move on to the next screening.
Analysis generated by our Consciousness Algorithm
Synopsis
Reclusive author Loretta Sage writes about exotic places in her popular adventure novels that feature a handsome cover model named Alan. While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta gets kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire who hopes she can lead him to the ancient city's lost treasure that featured in her latest story. Alan, determined to prove he can be a hero in real life and not just on the pages of her books, sets off to rescue her.
Questions about The Lost City
Is The Lost City woke?
No — The Lost City is not woke, scoring 11 out of 100 on our wokeness meter. That earns it a verdict of Ultra Based.
Does The Lost City have any woke elements?
1 of the 10 markers register at 30 or above, led by Feminist Agenda (30). On Feminist Agenda: The film utilizes the 'strong female lead' trope, where the author is empowered to solve the mystery, but this is presented within a highly traditional, escapist, and ultimately romantic framework.
How does The Lost City compare to other 2022 movies?
It ranks #146 of the 223 films from 2022 we've scored; their average is 22. The wokest is Bros (92).
How is the Woke Score calculated?
An AI-assisted process researches the film and its reception, scores it 0–100 on ten markers, then combines those into one 0–100 Woke Score. It measures a specific set of 2020s cultural themes, not film quality.