With memorable needle drops, emotional weight, and enough fun to shake a tail feather at, Forgotten Island will ensure you never forget the viewing experience.
Forgotten Island is a magical story with so much wonder and heart that reminds you to embrace the memories you share with loved ones and to never take them for granted. Fantastical with catchy songs that hit that nostalgic sweet spot, you’ll move to the beat one way or another. The story is about growing up but not necessarily apart. With memorable needle drops, emotional weight, and enough fun to shake a tail feather at, Forgotten Island will ensure you never forget the viewing experience.
Joel Crawford (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Croods: A New Age) and Januel P. Mercado (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Harvey Beaks) write and direct this DreamWorks gem. The movie stars H.E.R. (Yes Day, The Color Purple) as Jo and Liza Soberano (Lisa Frankenstein, Alone/Together) as Raissa, best friends since childhood. But with Raissa about to go off to Caltech in the U.S., their friendship’s friction grows. Then, the night before Raissa’s flight, a portal to Nakali, the magical world they looked for as kids, opens up. Now, they have to find a way back home, but the price might be too high to pay: their memories.
Forgotten Island Has Imagination on Another Level
This is how you recycle the same stories with a different spin. Diverse stories tell a tale unique and wondrous that opens up entire worlds to moviegoers, like the portal to Nakali, which expanded Jo and Raissa’s minds. Rooted in Filipino culture, the story is a colorful, moving joyride as Jo’s grandmother, Lola Fatima, voiced by Dolly de Leon (Salome, Triangle of Sadness), regales them with stories, inspiring their search for the island. It’s not only the island they travel to but also how Forgotten Island paints their connection through embracing their culture, sharing the stories in various presentations in school.
Once there, the beings they meet, like weredog Raww, voiced by Dave Franco (Warm Bodies, Regretting You), and baby Bungi, voiced by Manny Jacinto (Freakier Friday, The Acolyte), who reminds me of the giant baby in Spirited Away, among others, draw them in. But as they search for what they need to go home so Raissa doesn’t miss her flight, they butt heads as Jo’s laidback attitude grates on Raissa’s nerves. Like Jo’s reaction to the Duwende, teeny magical beings, it’s hard not to “ooh” and “ahh” because there is so much wonder everywhere.
Beautiful Friendship at Its Heart
H.E.R. and Liza Soberano are sensational and the beating heart at the core of this magical film. Before using a montage, the film makes sure to show their connection through the stories that Jo’s grandmother encourages. Their montage also captures the ever-present funny and frustrating aspect of their friendship by showing Jo and Raissa outside the principal’s office with Jo smiling and Raissa annoyed.
Forgotten Island makes sure the stakes and the emotional investment in their friendship and even the other characters remain high. Lea Salonga (Mulan, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin) as Manang is the flip side of Batiba, voiced by Jenny Slate (Gifted, The Secret Lives of Pets), as one hides their villainy behind smiles and the other rage. Plus, as someone who’s a sucker for a purr, Batiba looked too cute and huggable.
Cherish Your Memories
Without their emotional center, Forgotten Island would lose its vibrancy, and that includes their cultural joy that shines through their friendship. Growing up is something that can be done together when both retain common ground that united them in the first place. It’s wondrous storytelling and folklore from a culture we do not hear about enough. Friendship, magic, and myth swirl in an unforgettable mix, creating something that might be one of, maybe even the best animated films of the year. Forgotten Island is lightning-in-a-bottle magic, with spellbinding animation to match that captures a world that makes everyone fall in love.
