A beautiful tale of people dealing with a dark and barren wasteland in post apocalyptic Earth. When a book about Oz is found one of them uses it to dream and hope for better things. The older of the the two looks at life through jaundiced eyes and hunts for the woman he wants to find and share his life. They see the same things but one through the emerald colored glasses of Oz with strange and exciting creatures and the other through eyes that can find nothing but fear and loss. The cinematography is beautiful with shots that show how very lovely and yet bleak their world is. I'll give nothing away but leave you to enjoy this film with fresh eyes and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have.

The idea of this movie is in a way an interesting one since it basically puts this book "The Wizard of OZ" as a religion believed in so passionately by Lief that he believes that Ozland (a children's story) is an actual place and defends this belief throughout the movie; even when his friend and companion keeps trying to be the voice of reason to this kid .who isn't a kid in age but his mentality is that of a child.It's a very good idea; I mean even believable in theory. Take a post apocalyptic setting and with no trace of other Humans except for our two main characters. I mean it's not hard to see that the idea of something like a book like that could be such a huge influence for certain people who just need a break from the very harsh reality that is their life. Survival is the only things that these two exist for; one day after the other, surviving. Not much silver lining going on and both of the characters have some way of coping; both use their imagination as an escape. However, one goes a bit further and starts to have some moments where every chapter he goes through there are things that he believes to be some sort of similarity between the book and his life. I'm sure this can also in some ways be viewed differently depending on if you are a "glass half full" or "half empty" type of person. For the dreamers that view this movie; the directors intent is to have them lean in favor for Lief's ideas. For those of us that see the more realistic viewpoint we will see things through Emril's viewpoint. (think that's how you spell his name)Now in theory this is a very great concept and the story itself isn't horrible although towards the ending it gets a bit predictable. The problems here however, are the actors abilities along with the story taking much too long to get to worthy events that capture the viewers attention. I can look past the slower pacing and even the actors being sub-par (that is being generous). However the pretentious nature of the directing and script is what kills this movie. The director/writer is trying SO hard to show how talented they are that they make drastically over-simplistic settings appear to be over- exaggerated. I have never seen a movie like this where it's set in the future, you get extremely rustic settings (think 1890 farmland) and then somehow trying to sell that visually you are making this to be a visual beauty when every setting is the same. The pacing is god awful, I don't find that many people will finish this movie unless they are just movie critics watching it to tell everyone else to stay away from it.This is why it's not recommended for 1 person to do so much with the filming of a movie. This is like if Birdman's Michael Keaton character was REAL and actually made a movie trying to show off his skills to everyone else. The pretentious-ness is so dripping off of every frame. The acting itself, well; it's bad, it's SO bad that it almost makes this movies director/writer/producer look GOOD, that's how bad this movie is and I almost think that they were cast specifically to NOT take away from this person trying to be a triple threat behind the camera. Idea is good, solid original idea which is what caught my attentionEverything else however is either sub par or well below par or over done /over produced, under-directed actors but over directed settings. I wrote this because whatever that review is on the page that has like 9/10 stars and PRAISES this movie, it has got to be someone on the cast of that film or the writer/director/producer themselves trying to talk up the movie. Stay away from this movie, even if the idea sounds neat; it's not worth the nearly 2 hour run time, the horrible acting and directing and i didn't talk about the ending but WOW dripping with bull crap like the guy couldn't find a way to end the damn movie (nearly 2 hrs of nothing) and then just said OK and gave the most cheesy ugly anti-everything climatic ending in the history of film!

First I must thank Director, writer, producer, editor, special effects, designer, etc.: Michael Williams, for this 'thinking persons' film! OZLAND is loaded with so much allegorical symbolism, and cryptic messages that true cinema buffs can discuss this plot line all night and for days afterwords.The plot shows two men, Emri and Leif, walking westward in an unidentified setting at an undefined time. There are no other humans to be seen as they travel through the decaying remains of small towns, villages, and farms. Something devastating has occurred and Emri & Leif seem to be the only two humans around. We find out through their conversation that they were born into this post apocalyptic world and have no memory of civilization outside of what their parents have told them. How they met is also not explained.The story opens with them walking and searching for water as the environment is very dry. Along their way Leif happens upon a copy of the famous Frank L. Baum's book 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'. Leif can read, Emri has trouble reading. As they travel west Leif reads aloud and to himself. Leif, being the quixotic one, is very taken with this story and decides it must be true. Emri, being the realist, has serious doubts there is anything real about the story. During their journey they come upon items and imagery that could possibly attest to the reality of the very characters in the book! With each discovery Leif becomes more certain that 'OZLAND' exist while Emri holds on to his intuitive notion that its all a coincidence and OZLAND does not exist. Emri's doubting and questioning and Leif's belief in the existence of OZLAND eventually causes a fracture in their friendship.What I find so symbolic and allegorical in this story is the believer and the non-believer! Leif takes the book, which here symbolizes the sacred text of every religion (here Christianity due to the crosses they come upon), and grasp upon it as fact and then finds items and images that he believes make the characters in OZ true therefore the story is true. Emri on the other hand has serious doubts there is any fact to the book but lacks the evidence to prove he's right. Leif has 'the book' and the imagery they have found to prove OZ is real but the items and imagery are only real proof because he believes they are proof. And isn't this the story of ourselves in todays world? The believers verses the nonbelievers.There is a pivotal scene in the movie that deserves close attention. As they are walking down a road they notice something out in a field. They walk over to it and discover it is a cross with a crucified corpse still attached, now dried out and mummified. Attached to the cross, just above the head of the corpse, is the word 'TERRORIST' scratched into a wooden board. Lief ask Emri "what is terrorist"? Emri tells him terror is like being scared. Leif takes it as someone who scares others! To him this corpse must be the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. Just what is the message here? To me it means that Jesus actually brought fear into the lives of others. He preached through faith you will be saved. We spend our lives seeking faith yet we cannot prove our faith will save us, there is no proof. Each and every person comes to the same end - death. Is there heaven? We will never know but we assume faith in Christian text makes heaven true. This is the dilemma Leif finds himself in. He so believes the OZ story this dried crucified corpse is proof enough that the scarecrow was real. Emri takes it for what it is - a dried out crucified corpse - nothing else.There is a serious flaw in the story that relates directly to the cross in the field scene. Later in their journey they head for a place in which they are certain there will be other people. Upon reaching this destination they find three graves, each with a Christian cross. Leif and Emri have no knowledge of Christian belief as it is never referred to throughout the film. I am wondering just what is the message Michael Williams is relating here? For both Leif and Emri's only reference to a cross is to someone that brought fear into the lives of others.At movies end Leif is given the opportunity to find his OZLAND. Emri begs him not to do what he wants to do. Leif convinces Emri he must for surely OZLAND is his home. Emri seeks shelter down into the darkness of the ground. Leif stays above ground. Eventually Emri emerges from the safety he sought to discover Leif has gone. Here again the symbolism is overwhelming. Emri rises from below, think grave, into the light to discover his only companion gone. We know he's dead and I believe Emri also knows this. But what does this say about Leif?

I saw this movie at the Premier in Columbus, Mississippi. I was not really sure what to expect, as the only thing I knew was the film was post apocalyptic and had something to do with the book, the Wizard of Oz. I couldn't really wrap my mind on how those 2 things were going to work together. But they did! Writer, producer, and director, Michael Williams, took the concept of 2 guys wandering through the world alone, looking for others and then finding hope through a copy of the Wizard of Oz that was found. The film portrays 2 people who look to each other for survival, as well as companionship. Parts of the book are read throughout the film. At some point, you begin to feel like there really might be an Ozland out there. To find out if the 2 companions, found Ozland, you must watch the end of the movie. The end really makes you think on several different levels. The scenery was realistic, with a feel of mid-western dusty, lonely, stretches of nothing but emptiness. The actors were convincing in their emotions and conversations, and they were realistic in their overall look and costumes. Overall, Williams has created a real gem using The Wizard of Oz as a catalyst for hope in an otherwise desolate world.