WFG RATING: A-

A Robin de Levita Productions film. Directed by Robin de Levita. Produced by Evgeniya Radilova, Jeffrey S. Georges, Stevan Keane, and Michael Tosner. Written by Robin de Levita. Cinematography by Michael Tosner. Edited by Taylor Braasch.

Stars Evgeniya Radilova, Zoë Vnak, Sammy Rubin, Dena Tyler, Rocco Nevers, Rob Franzes, Mark McCullough Thomas, Pixel Witch, Perla Noire, Tony Naumovski, and Jason Furlani.

Runtime: 87 minutes

A woman’s zest for life as an adult has her life blurred behind her love of cosplay and reality in this wild and zany film from director Robin de Levita. 

As a child, Eni was always abused by her mother, who shunned playing dress up as something ridiculous. So it becomes natural as Eni becomes an adult that she would work in the daytime as a dental assistant but live out her repressed fantasies at night by cosplaying and going to an underground club called “Lost Cos”. There, she meets and befriends other cosplayers as well as having a relationship with fellow cosplayer Lia. It is there she finds her true sense of happiness.

However, she has learned that a cosplayer known as Merman has been found dead on a nearby beach. As the police begin to question what has happened to Merman, Eni has suffered a devastating loss when Lia has died. When she learns some of the cosplayers have been acting up and doing things they should not be, she takes matters in her own hands. At the same, a local mob boss, Viktor, has been causing trouble and may be involved in the deaths of cosplayers. Will Eni have the strength to take on all who get in her way?

This film from writer-director Robin de Levita is quite interesting as it feels like a combination of indie comic book film along with a story of a protagonist whose repressed memories leads her to a total sense of freedom and both the rewards and consequences that go with that freedom. The saying “we fall to pick ourselves back up” definitely applies to lead character Eni, terrifically played by Evgeniya Radilova. 

Having dealt with a tormented childhood, we see Eni living her fantasies of “dress-up” when she goes to the underground club “Lost Cos”, where the worlds of cosplay and burlesque combine. We see flashbacks of Eni’s loving relationship with fellow cosplayer Lia, played by Zoë Vnak as we learn as she seeks therapy that Lia was killed and Eni saw it go down and has this repressed anger that soon enough, will be unleashed when she learns a very good friend, Sammy Rubin’s Zoey, was fondled by a cosplayer who looks like a poor man’s version of Venom, calling himself the “Six-Eyed Wonder”. 

What’s great in the case of certain scenes, such as Eni confronting the “Six-Eyed Wonder”, as well as Pixel Witch’s Gina getting revenge on a bully, is that it is done in a comic book animation form with the final shot being that of a comic book cover. This brings something exciting to the film and if that’s not enough, we get to see Eni in the third act unleash her full potential as she takes on a Winter Soldier-inspired cosplayer in a weapons fight and after a therapy session, goes after the one responsible for the death of her loved one in an all out fist fight in the finale. 

Lost Cos is a fun ride that could redefine comic book inspired films with the tale of a protagonist who must unleash her regressions to become a fighting force in a real situation. An exhilarating lead performance by Evgeniya Radilova and Robin de Levita’s direction makes this a film to check out!