All the Lost Ones is one of those films that leaves you staring at the screen wondering what genre the filmmakers ever intended this to be. From the opening minutes, it's impossible to decipher whether the movie aspires to be a horror, a drama, or some kind of psychological thriller. Instead of blending genres in an interesting or artistic way, it collapses into an incoherent tangle of scenes that never amount to anything meaningful. The result is a viewing experience that feels directionless, confusing, and frankly unwatchable.
The lack of tonal clarity is only the beginning. The direction in All the Lost Ones is as scattered as the story itself, with no sense of pacing, mood, or progression. It feels like the director took a handful of random ideas, threw them into a blender, and hoped audiences wouldn't notice that nothing connects. Scenes drift from one emotional beat to another with no build-up or payoff, and every attempt at suspense or tension fizzles out before it even has a chance to land. It's a production that seems confused by its own purpose.
The screenplay makes things even worse. Plot threads are introduced with dramatic weight only to be abandoned minutes later, leaving viewers with the impression that something important is coming-only for the movie to deliver absolutely nothing. Moments that should matter are glossed over, and moments that shouldn't matter are dragged out. The entire film feels like a promise of a story that never arrives, a collection of setups with no actual execution. If anything did transpire, it was so underwhelming and poorly handled that it barely registered.
Character development is equally nonexistent. The people in All the Lost Ones don't feel like characters so much as placeholders meant to fill space between scenes. Their motivations are unclear, their emotional arcs are missing entirely, and their interactions feel forced and disconnected. Without any grounding or context, it becomes impossible for the audience to invest in their fears, struggles, or supposed journeys. This lack of engagement only amplifies how empty the film truly is.
Visually and stylistically, the film doesn't fare any better. While Netflix often produces a mix of hits and misses, this one falls firmly into the latter category. The cinematography feels rushed, the editing is jarring, and the overall aesthetic looks like something that doesn't belong on a global streaming platform. Instead of atmospheric or eerie, the film simply looks unfinished. It's hard to imagine how this made it through the greenlight process without someone stepping in and asking what exactly the final product was supposed to accomplish.
In the end, All the Lost Ones is simply a disaster-messy, unfocused, and completely devoid of anything that would make it worth recommending. It's the kind of movie that feels like a misfire from the very moment it begins, and it only gets worse from there. Netflix may have its ups and downs, but this one isn't just a miss; it's one of the most aggressively forgettable and directionless films to hit the platform. I can't recommend it in any form, and it's one I would advise skipping entirely.
