PalCinema Review: Getting Lost

A new documentary explores the making of and fandom associated with the series Lost.

December 9, 2024

FILM: GETTING LOST

DIRECTED BY: TAYLOR MORDEN

FEATURING: J.J. ABRAMS, CARLTON CUSE, EVANGELINE LILLY

RATING: 3 ½ out 4 stars

By Dan Pal

I attended the virtual premiere of Getting Lost, a documentary about the TV series Lost on Saturday from the comfort of my entertainment room. For two hours, I listened to a number of key figures associated with the film share their recollections of the show which ran from 2004 until 2010. I was pretty transfixed by the film which offers a lot for the fans including interviews with actors from the series, producers, the composer, creators, and lots of big fans. It was a mostly very satisfying experience which was then followed by even more: an hour-long Q & A with the filmmakers behind the project. Needless to say, I was pretty immersed and “lost” for those three hours.

When the show premiered in 2004, I was intrigued by the premise but had pretty much given up on much of network television, save for comedies like Friends and Will & Grace. As the series carried on, even winning the Emmy for Best Drama series after its first season, I remained interested but still didn’t tune in. Then around season four, my students would talk about it the day after it aired. They seemed generally enthusiastic about it which pushed me to finally seeking it out. At the time, Hulu was streaming the first seasons. I had not gone on the site before and despite the commercials I dug into season one and was forever hooked. Later when my local Blockbuster was closing I bought every season on DVD, which I still have. I listened to podcasts dissecting the series which thrilled me to no end. Then, when it was time for it all to end, I decided to host a Lost finale party at my house. My husband Frank never watched the show and went to California for his niece’s college graduation. I decorated for the party including plenty of Dharma Initiative inspired products, luggage to represent what had fallen from the Oceanic Airlines fictional jet, and plenty of little bottles of alcohol that might have also been from the plane.

Since then, I’ve shown the pilot of Lost in one of my television courses and re-watched the series a second time.

So, yes, I was excited for the documentary which marks the twentieth anniversary from when the series first premiered. It was great to hear the various stories on the show’s origins, casting, and what went into making that pilot which was the most expensive ever made up until that point. The film also features some great behind the scenes footage as well as interviews with several members of the cast. Most notably missing is Matthew Fox, who played Jack, the character of which the show was arguably centered around. Still, it’s great to hear Evangeline Lilly’s (Kate) perspective on the series and how inexperienced she felt as an actor. Terry O’Quinn (John Locke) talks about not knowing his character had been in a wheelchair until well after production started. Daniel Dae Kim (Jim-Soo Kwon) talks about the show’s important inclusion of Koreans as major characters.

Perhaps the most interesting discussions though come from creators like Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof discussing the rise of the show’s success to the disappointment often associated with the finale (which I always found pretty satisfying.) They make it clear right from the start that the characters were NOT in purgatory on the island. So, I guess we must take that theory off the table. They also address the toxic writer’s room which Maureen Ryan wrote about in a 2023 book about Hollywood called Burn It Down.

Mostly though the documentary is a love fest for all involved and in particular for its fans. The filmmaker interview many super fans, including former Saturday Night Live cast member, Bobby Moynihan, who owns a lot of memorabilia from the series. Fans talk about how the show saved their lives and brought them together as a family. One of the criticisms I have about the film though is that it spends a bit too much time on the fandom. However, I get where the filmmakers were coming from in wanting to include so much of it because if it wasn’t for the fans, the continued interest in Lost and thus this documentary would not have been possible.

Still, I’d have liked more discussion about some of the various story arcs and messages imbedded within the series. True, much it was made up as Lost was being made but I think a little more attention could have been given to the many philosophical ideas, Biblical references, and, yes, those numbers which were such a huge part of the series. Perhaps those discussions are better to be found in the many books and podcasts about the show.

Nevertheless, it was fun to dive back into Lost and look at it from the broader perspective of a pop culture phenomenon.

Getting Lost doesn’t have a specific streaming date yet but it should be available sometime in 2025.

For the archive of PalCinema reviews, click here.