By Nathan Kerdachi
Beware! Spoilers below.
Imagine Filipino folklore, friendship bracelets and memory-walking, combined with character depth and tear-jerking narratives. These various ideas are masterfully woven together in DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island.
DreamWorks’ 50th animated feature film, Forgotten Island, is breaking records. Debuting with a 100% critical approval score on Rotten Tomatoes, it is one of the studio’s highest rated film launches yet. For a film about memories, Forgotten Island is certainly one that will be difficult to forget. Photo: Ethan Stopforth
On 25 September, Forgotten Island began showing at the Neelsie Road House Cinema, following the release of its teaser trailer back in March. Surprisingly, the film’s promotional campaign felt underwhelming. The trailer lacked impact. People weren’t hyped for the film. There was not much marketing for the movie, which was strange considering that huge stars such as H.E.R., Dave Franco and Lea Salonga, the voice behind Mulan (1998), were involved.
Forgotten Island follows two best friends, Jo (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano), whose friendship is tested when Raissa leaves the Philippines to study in the United States. On the eve of her departure, the girls are mysteriously transported through a magical portal to Nakali, a mythical island inspired by Filipino folklore filled with legendary creatures and hidden dangers. In search of a way back home, they are forced to make sacrifices and confront their fears about change and growing up.
From the outset, the contrast between Jo’s impulsive, adventurous nature and Raissa’s cautious, calculated personality is evident. Has this been done before? Yes, but Forgotten Island avoids reducing either character to a cliché. Instead, both characters were given nuanced backstories and family dynamics that supported their behaviours.
As an orphan, Jo has learned to rely on herself, while Raissa is constantly constrained by her parents and societal expectations, despite their limited understanding of her ambitions. This is particularly apparent when she tells relatives that she has been accepted to California Institute of Technology to study rocket science. Rather than supporting her achievement, they reduce it merely to “going to Hollywood” and their hopes are limited to her marrying Brad Pitt. The absurdity of this response dismisses her intellect and accomplishment, highlighting misogynistic attitudes that undermine women’s ambitions and the emotional burdens such expectations can create.
The visuals of the film were vivid and vibrant, contrasting the gloomy atmosphere at some points. DreamWorks adopted a hybrid animation style that incorporated 3D animation, hand-drawn 2D sequences, as well as anime-inspired influences. It may sound quite bizarre, but the approach effectively contributed to portraying characters’ emotions in a way a purely 3D animation style might not have achieved.
Another enjoyable aspect was the moral complexity of the characters. Batiba, voiced by Jenny Slate, initially appears to be a kind and sweet memory demon, but is eventually exposed as having sinister intentions of taking people’s memories. Yet, her actions are not driven by malice, but loneliness and a desire for connection. Similarly, Manang (Salonga), initially portrayed as the ominous villain looming over the story, is revealed to be deeply misunderstood, only becoming evil after her memories of kindness and love were stolen from her.
At different points, you find yourself both loving and hating these characters, yet their motivations remain understandable, making them far more complex than typical animated villains.
Despite these strengths, the film struggles with narrative consistency. At times the story is fast-paced and unpredictable, but abrupt time jumps and frequent shifts in pacing disrupted the flow of the film. Additionally, the ending felt anti-climactic. Manang is a demon vampire who is known for violence and death, and hunts Jo and Raissa throughout the movie. Despite being the central antagonist, Manang’s character development and transformation towards good receives surprisingly little focus in the final scenes. Additionally, in the closing narration, we are reminded “memories hold magic”, which is a heartwarming message. However, this could have been accompanied by other more thought-provoking morals, such as the importance of confronting pain and facing your fears.
An unanswered question most people want to know: is this animated movie actually for children? The answer appears to be yes – but not exclusively. There are baby demons, fierce marshmallow-like characters, anime references and it is in an animated style, which all point directly towards younger audiences. However, the movie has adult jokes, gory elements such as displaying cutting umbilical cords, and an older soundtrack with songs such as “Don’t Stop Believin’” and “Never Tear Us Apart”, targeting older viewers, like parents of the children watching, for example.
The audience at the Neelsie Road House Cinema’s opening viewing represented this multigenerational range, and it was interesting to see their varying reactions. From observation, the toddlers found the characters and anime references hilarious, whereas parents found Lola Fatima’s (voiced by Dolly de Leon) adult humour and overall message appealing. It seems that Forgotten Island may be one of the few animated movies that is genuinely “suitable for the whole family”.
Overall, one can describe Forgotten Island as weird, funny and incredible. Despite its uneven pacing and occasionally confusing plot structure, Forgotten Island succeeds because of its emotional depth and willingness to take creative risks. If you are into animated movies and dark humour, this movie is perfect for you. But even if you aren’t, it’s one of those films that anyone would enjoy to some extent. It may not be perfect, but it lingers in your mind long after the credits roll. No wonder it got a 94% Rotten Tomatoes score on theatrical release!
