{"id":781434,"date":"2026-09-24T20:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T20:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/781434\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T20:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T20:24:10","slug":"forgotten-island-review-an-animated-design-with-filipino-flavor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/781434\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Forgotten Island’ Review: An Animated Design With Filipino Flavor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIn Hollywood, parallel thought is a funny thing. As in every other sphere, two or more people can have a similar idea at the same time, but when those ideas bloom into movies, their release can feel like a land rush. Which is more firmly cemented in moviegoers\u2019 memories, \u201cDante\u2019s Peak\u201d or \u201cVolcano\u201d? \u201cLambada\u201d or \u201cThe Forbidden Dance\u201d? \u201cVice Versa,\u201d \u201c17 Again\u201d or \u201cLike Father, Like Son\u201d? (Trick question: it\u2019s \u201cBig.\u201d) \u201cForgotten Island<\/a>\u201d is the second film of at least five this year with a plot that hinges on some kind of magic portal, but Universal\u2019s delightful animated adventure deserves to be remembered more for the creative and cultural elements that set it apart from its competition than those that overlap. <\/p>\n

\n\tUtilizing a dizzying panorama of Filipino mythology, longtime collaborators and \u201cPuss in Boots: The Last Wish\u201d co-directors Joel Crawford<\/a> and Januel P. Mercado<\/a> tell a familiar but moving story about friendship, brought to life through a vivid voice ensemble. Grammy-winning musician H.E.R.<\/a> plays Josephine \u201cJo\u201d Yuson, an overzealous elementary school student living in the Philippines, who befriends fellow classmate Raissa Molina (Liza Soberano<\/a>) when they both get sent to the principal\u2019s office. A dreamer whose father abandoned her, Jo conflates her family history with Filipino lore, tracing the path of her grandmother Lola (Dolly de Leon) through the forgotten island of Nakali and believing fervently in its mythical flora and fauna.<\/p>\n

\n\tFueled by Lola\u2019s encouragement, the two girls escape into an elaborate but imaginary world during adolescence, but with college looming for Raissa in the U.S., Jo is increasingly afraid of being left behind \u2014 especially after her grandmother passes. On the night before Raissa is set to depart for Caltech, Jo convinces her to have one last escapade together, but their celebration is interrupted when she uncovers a magical sand dollar that opens a portal transporting them to the real Nakali.<\/p>\n

\n\tThey awakens on a beach with the portal key gone and no memory of the previous night, although Raissa now has wings and they share a tattoo with Raww (Dave Franco<\/a>), a were-aspin (a dog-human hybrid from Filipino folklore) who insists they asked him to be their island guide. Raww takes them to Batiba (Jenny Slate), a catlike creature who offers to help them return home \u2014 in exchange for the matching bracelets they made as kids, which hold all of the memories of their friendship. Instead, they set out with Raww to recover the magical sand dollar themselves, encountering a series of magical creatures \u2014 some helpful, others determined to kill them \u2014 as they try to find a way home before Raissa\u2019s flight leaves on the other end of the portal.<\/p>\n

\n\tThough \u201cForgotten Island\u201d is rated PG, it not only borrows from more mature sources for inspiration (like \u201cThe Hangover\u201d) but is unafraid to be a little bit rude (a gastrointestinal phenomenon called \u201cfire-rrhea\u201d figures into the plot), and occasionally even scary. It\u2019s perfectly appropriate viewing for adults and older teens, but guardians of younger moviegoers \u2014 who will be mightily tempted by Truffle Wuffle (Ronny Chieng), the irresistibly cuddly king of the Duwende people \u2014 should use discretion. The film\u2019s potty humor, mostly depicted in anime-style 2D, shouldn\u2019t present too many viewers with a challenge, but Manang (Lea Salonga), the fearsome, vampire-like monster who pursues Jo and Raissa throughout the film, is violent and genuinely terrifying.<\/p>\n

\n\tYet that mix is exactly what makes the film so powerful, as it gently confronts younger children with some of life\u2019s inevitable realities \u2014 including sacrifice and death. Jo has maintained her wrecking-ball momentum since childhood, and now that she\u2019s faced with losing her best friend, the movie zeroes in on how painful it is for her to slow down and come to terms with this devastating change. Raissa, on the other hand, is accused of acquiescing to her parents\u2019 dreams for her by going far away to Caltech \u2014 but she hasn\u2019t been honest with Jo about a plan that was actually her decision.<\/p>\n

\n\tThese are conflicts that have been dramatized in any number of coming-of-age films where an ambitious teen realizes they\u2019ve outgrown their troublemaking, underachieving best friend. What sets this particular version apart is the density of the Filipino mythology that Crawford and Mercado, themselves longtime BFFs, use to frame the adventure. Treating nature as a living organism with energy and emotions isn\u2019t especially unusual; including a narcissistic merman (named Mermahn, with the emphasis on the second syllable) is, especially when he has starfish nipple pasties that harmonize. Raww isn\u2019t just a semi-anthropomorphized pup, he\u2019s one of the free-ranging street dogs that roam Filipino cities.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe movie does a lot of table-setting to establish the various creatures that exist in Jo\u2019s imaginary world before we get to meet them in their actual habitat: a visually stunning combination of digital precision and hand-sketched details that read beautifully on screen, like an extreme closeup of the three-color printing process used for comic books. (See it in the best visual format you can find.) If you\u2019re not already familiar with the lore explored here, you may occasionally fall behind. (Sorry, who are these peaceful tree people again?) But each new environment is so unique and visually arresting that it\u2019s easy to let go and just enjoy the ride.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition to a lovely score by Nathan Matthew David, Crawford and Mercado frontload the film with classic \u201980s and \u201990s songs, most crucially INXS\u2019 \u201cNever Tear Us Apart.\u201d H.E.R. and Soberano are exceptionally good as Jo and Raissa, the not-always-calm center of a storm of colorful characters. At 41, Franco still has the right cracked delivery for an adolescent, which fits Raww as naturally as fleas on a stray dog. As Batiba, Slate\u2019s borderline baby voice walks a nimble line between seductive and menacing, but Manny Jacinto is the real scene-stealer as a literal baby demon. As Mermahn, Kevin McCann is perfectly smug, vacuuming the air from most of his scenes, but the collective orbit of these supporting characters serves to externalize, fuel and eventually resolve the conflict between the two principals.<\/p>\n

\n\tSeemingly intentionally, the film leaves some details unresolved \u2014 where\u2019s Jo\u2019s absentee father, and exactly what made Manang so bitterly angry? But whether or not they\u2019re breadcrumbs leading to another adventure, thankfully they\u2019re not what you remember on the way out of \u201cForgotten Island.\u201d Deeply felt and fully satisfying, Crawford and Mercado\u2019s odyssey is a wonderful cinematic experience \u2014 but for best results, watch it with a friend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Hollywood, parallel thought is a funny thing. As in every other sphere, two or more people can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":781435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[11862,96,174465,256561,257433,257434,39480,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-781434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-dave-franco","tag-entertainment","tag-forgotten-island","tag-h-e-r","tag-januel-p-mercado","tag-joel-crawford","tag-liza-soberano","tag-movies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=781434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}