OUT 17 SEPTEMBER

There’s a moment in Japanese director Sion Sono’s gonzo Eastmeets-Western where Nic Cage gets his nuts blown off, noteworthy because it’s only about the 17th-strangest thing to happen in a film so unhinged it makes Cage’s average fare look like regency drama.

Cage plays Hero, a felon imprisoned since a bank robbery gone wrong. He is sprung by The Governor (Bill Moseley), who holds Samurai Town under an iron grip and offers Hero a deal – rescue his beloved Bernice (Sofia Boutella) from the Ghostland and walk away free. There’s one catch: to stop him from absconding or hurting Bernice, Hero is rigged with explosives, his nuts on the line.

Cage has made plenty of odd movies in recent years, but in Sono he may have found a filmmaker on his wavelength. While debts are owed to Mad Max and

Escape From New York, the pairing produces a uniquely barmy apocalyptic vision. Japan’s nuclear history is reflected in the forsaken Ghostland, wrapped in a spirit of unabashed B-movie madness.

There’s much that might be considered flaws, like non-existent character development, obvious stunt doubles, flowery dialogue and a just-gowith-it fusion of Eastern and Western cultures, but typical criticisms scarcely apply. Prisoners exists outside the norms of moviemaking. Really there’s only one word to describe it: nuts. Jordan Farley