Movie Review: ‘Forgotten Island’

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Forgotten Island is a beautiful, heartwarming story about two friends learning the power of friendship. The movie has elements that reminded me of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Up, The Hangover (which I never actually saw in full), and the animation was reminiscent of the Spider-Verse films. The film also incorporates genuine mythical legends, at least one of which is genuinely creepy. All of this merged into a fun, hilarious, wild, and emotional journey that is very memorable and I enjoyed it very much.

The movie opens in the Philippines with the meeting of the two main protagonists, Joesphine “Jo” Yuson (young version played by Kailey Crawford) and Raissa Molina (young version played by Kayla Teruel). Jo is more free-spirited and wild while Raissa is more down-to-earth and serious. They both get in trouble at school and meet waiting outside the Principal’s Office. Within minutes, they become best friends and go on to develop years of meaningful memories through their friendship.

After high school, conflict arises when Raissa (now voiced by Liza Soberano) decides to go to Caltech in the U.S. while Jo (now voiced by H.E.R.) cannot hold a steady job and has no plans for her future. On the night before Raissa leaves, the pair find a portal to the titular island inhabited by various mythical characters. They awaken the next morning with no memory of the previous night and must traverse the island to discover what happened and find their way back home or risk losing memories of their entire friendship.

The target audience is probably much younger than me, but I enjoyed the story, the themes of friendship and memories, the characters, the music (it’s not a musical, but there is music throughout), the comedy, and there is some borderline (kid-friendly) horror with a character that can separate her top and bottom halves and terrorizes the island. The movie is visually stunning, and I would highly recommend seeing it in theaters.