The Lost City (2022)

 

Loretta Sage is a reclusive middle-aged author who writes romance-adventure novels centered around a fictional hero named Dash McMahon, who is portrayed by cover model Alan Caprison. Her publicist, Beth Hatten, insists that she must embark on a book tour with Alan to promote her latest work.

After a disastrous start, mostly due to the popularity of Alan's Dash persona, Loretta is captured by a kidnapper named Abigail Fairfax, a billionaire who realizes that Loretta has based her books on actual historic research she did with her late archaeologist husband. He has discovered a lost city on a remote Atlantic island and is convinced that this is the location of the "Crown of Fire", a priceless treasure. When Loretta declines to help decipher an ancient map to the treasure, Fairfax, who fears the site will be destroyed by an active volcano, chloroforms Loretta and takes her to the island.

Alan, who is secretly enamored with Loretta, witnesses her kidnapping. He recruits Jack Trainer, a former Navy SEAL turned CIA operative, to meet him on the island and coordinate a rescue attempt. Jack, with no assistance from Alan, breaches Fairfax's compound and frees Loretta, but is shot in the head before they can make it to the airport, forcing Loretta and Alan to escape into the jungle.

Loretta and Alan spend a day fighting off Fairfax's henchmen before reaching a nearby village, where upon hearing a folk song from a local, Loretta deduces that the crown is hidden in a sinkhole in the jungle. Before the duo can leave, Fairfax captures Loretta again which ensues a chase by Alan to save Loretta. The pair are then forced to share the treasure's location with Fairfax. Upon reaching the location, they discover the tomb but realize it is not a monument for Kalaman's power but a hiding place for the queen to grieve for her husband and that her "Crown of Fire" was made of red seashells gathered by her husband who is buried with her. The actual treasure of the legend was not a priceless jewel but the inseparable love between the king and queen. Infuriated, Fairfax forces them into the tomb as the volcano erupts, but Rafi, one of the henchmen, has a change of heart and leaves a crowbar to help them escape before abandoning Fairfax on the island. Beth arrives with the local coast guard and Fairfax is arrested. Loretta's next book, based on their adventures, is a hit, and she and Alan share a kiss while on vacation.

In a mid-credits scene, Jack, having survived his attempted killing, attends a yoga class alongside Loretta and Alan, surprising them.