this is an odd one in some ways. it is impossible to make a documentary about LOST that stands on its own, and this film *opens* with Jorge Garcia giving a spoiler warning before even the title gets dropped. but it doesn't just expect you to have watched the show, either; as someone who's been an unwavering LOST fan since 2005, i can see a million ways in which this documentary is responding to long-standing fandom conversations and generalized misconceptions. perhaps this is just my own limited perspective impressing itself onto the film, but i do wonder what someone who only watched LOST for the first time, like, a year ago and never really read up about its production or reception would think of Getting LOST.

because the thing is, LOST is a huge show. six seasons, 120+ episodes, and decades of discourse about every discretely measurable picosecond contained therein. it's impossible to make a documentary about LOST that stands on its own without being obscenely long. but then, who else is gonna watch a documentary about LOST but LOST fans? so it makes sense that this is not a linear retelling of historical events but rather a vibes-based montage of recollections cut together in roughly chronological order. much time is spent on the pilot and the growing fandom, the writing roadblocks in season 3 and the revelation of setting a fixed end date, and of course no LOST documentary can avoid the incredible demonstration of mass-cultural illiteracy that was the series finale's reception and legacy. there's a lot of other stuff that happened in the middle that i would've liked to see touched on, actors i wanted to hear more from, etc. i'm a LOST fan, obviously i love trivia.

but by the end of the documentary, i came away feeling like the whole thing was a beautiful bait and switch. much of the latter half is devoted to interviewing the bloggers and podcasters and journalists whose careers were made by covering LOST. that focus, to me, is the lifeblood of this documentary. it's the entire justification for its existence as "a documentary" and not, like, a puff piece retrospective with the actors (which is not to say the actors here are playing nice-- anyone who had issues with their character or the show at large is given time to air those grievances). all the actors on this show are going to be remembered forever (or at least for as long as the show itself is remembered), and their recollections have been and will continue to be endlessly documented. not so for those early internet media analysts who laid the foundations of modern fandom and became just as much a part of the show's culture as all the usual suspects. now, obviously Getting LOST takes a pretty rosy view of fandom because it really does not have time to dig much deeper, but it does so by talking to real people and hearing about the people they lost, the struggles they faced, the lives they lived. it is heartfelt, earned, and hand to god got some tears out of me. and that would be lost to time sooner or later, if not for the generosity of time this film gifts them.

the major test of any expression of LOST fandom post-2023 is whether and to what extent they discuss The Toxic Writer's Room. i am beyond pleased to say they spend a significant amount of time on this, allowing marginalized critics who've been heaping praise on the show throughout the doc the space to work through how shocking and disappointing those revelations really were. this is important because those same people then get to say, "i don't think the problems of the writer's room are an excuse to pretend the show never happened." i found myself nodding vigorously often in that last hour, as i've gone through the exact same cycles of doubt and disappointment and anger... and still come out the other side an unwavering fan of LOST. the thematic parallels Getting LOST draws from these conflicts elevated the whole thing for me, and contributes to the general feeling that the thing all the actors were brought on to talk about wasn't the show, but the people who liked it.

i was not sure what to expect going into this thing. my fear was it would be just fluff, a self-aggrandizing celebration that refuses to be critical for fear of alienating their interviewees. instead, they ask Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse to directly respond to the writer's room situation, and they have absolutely no reservation in admitting guilt. at multiple points, actors said shit that i was shocked they kept in. they're allowed to have opinions, they're allowed to be wrong, they're allowed to not like the show or have issues with it. it's not a puff piece! it's not a glorified youtube video! it IS a documentary!! i'm frankly so happy that this wound up being a mature, contemplative work that manages to thread the needle on all sides of the conversation, because it was sorely needed. i'm immensely grateful that this wonderful film was able to get made, and that it took the form that it did. if you're a fan of LOST, this is a must-watch. it's by no means your one-stop-shop for All Things LOST, because again, LOST is huge. but for what it is, it's great.