Landman Star Jacob Lofland Headlined A Post-Apocalyptic Drama With A White Lotus Star

Jacob Lofland's Cooper Norris is one of the best characters on "Landman," bringing a charmingly subdued energy to a show that's otherwise bonkers in the most Taylor Sheridan way possible. The fact that the oil drama is a hit is great for the young actor, who has been working steadily ever since his 2012 debut in the Matthew McConaughey-led drama "Mud," but has thus far struggled to truly break through. During that time, for instance, he starred in "Go North," a coming-of-age tale set amid a dystopian future in which adults have vanished and jocks are running the show. The film pretty much flew under everyone's radar, but it's worth tracking down if you're a Lofland fan, or if you fancy seeing Patrick Schwarzenegger playing a bad guy long before his "White Lotus" role. 

In 2025, Schwarzenegger gained the most significant attention of his career when he played businessman Saxon Ratliff in "The White Lotus" season 3 and promptly received a wave of hatred for his portrayal (in a good way). This was the year before Lofland debuted as Cooper Norris in "Landman," which essentially meant the pair came to prominence around the same time. Back in 2017, however, they were both still trying to make a name for themselves. 

Lofland did manage to land a small role in the beloved "Maze Runner" trilogy, starting with 2015's "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials." The film imagined a future in which kids find themselves trapped within giant labyrinths, and was a significant step in Lofland's career even if he wasn't starring. On his way to more prominent roles, the actor returned to dystopian sci-fi. In 2017 he teamed up with Schwarzenegger for "Go North," which remains one of the most overlooked entires in both actors' filmographies.

After "Mud," Jacob Lofland's second ever role was in the heartbreaking drama "Little Accidents," which saw him return to grounded drama. But he soon branched out, appearing in an intense Civil War movie. After venturing into sci-fi with his "Maze Runner" role, he moved on to "Go North."

The film is co-written and directed by prolific documentary maker Matt Ogens. It stars Lofland and Sophie Kennedy Clark as Josh and Jessie, two youngsters residing in the wasteland wrought by some ambiguous cataclysmic event that apparently killed all the adults. When we first meet the pair they're living in a commune run by Jessie's brother and all-round jock Caleb (Schwarzenegger) and his gang of bullies. But after Josh runs afoul of the despotic leadership, he and Jessie decide to leave and head for the northlands in search of a new life. Caleb and his crony Gentry (James Bloor) soon give chase as Josh and Jesse navigate the dilapidated environs of their fallen world.

The film was shot on location in Detroit, which lends an air of authenticity to the whole thing. As does cinematographer John Tipton, who like Ogens has worked on multiple documentaries. This is one of the main aspects of "Go North" that separates it from your typical YA dystopian fare. Ogens and his crew aren't really interested in using post-apocalyptia as an excuse for allowing teen angst to run wild. Neither are they all that interested in making dystopia seem cool. They really just want to explore the world they've created and wring some sort of insights out of it. They were moderately successful in that respect.

Matt Ogens told Horror Buzz he was initially inspired to make "Go North" by the Motor City. "I was in Detroit a few years before filming something else," he explained, "and was just fascinated, like a curious kid, with all the abandoned spaces that exist in America. I wanted to tell a story there and use location as a character as well and I saw the city of Detroit as a character." The director went on to describe the movie as less a post-apocalyptic film and more a "coming of age drama set in a dystopian backdrop." He also cited William Golding's 1954 novel "Lord of the Flies" as a major inspiration for his film's exploration of a lawless world.

Whether he succeeded in melding those elements depends on whether you like you dystopian teen adventure a little more subdued. "Go North" has a score of 67% on Rotten Tomatoes based on six reviews, only one of which is from "top critic." Nick Schager of the Village Voice evidently found the movie to be a bit of a slog, writing, "alongside electricity and clean drinking water, one of the casualties of 'Go North”s Armageddon was artistic inspiration." Not the best appraisal, then, but there were plenty of non "top" critics who liked "Go North" well enough.

Sadly, the film didn't cause much of a stir when it opened in ten cities and hit VOD services in 2017. But it's worth watching for Lofland, who does a typically excellent job in the lead. It's also notable for presenting a dystopian sci-fi world that's a little more grounded and authentic than a lot of films in the genre.