Forgotten Island – Film Review
by G O’Byrne

Directors – Sharis Arakelian, Scott Chapin, Brent Christo
Writers – Joel Crawford, Januel P. Mercado, Steven A. MacLeod
Stars – H.E.R. Liza Soberano, Dave Franco

FORGOTTEN ISLAND – IN CINEMAS OCTOBER 16th

This is a comedy/adventure cartoon from DreamWorks Animation. Set in the Philippines, it tells the story of two young girls, Jo and Raissa, who meet at school and become best friends.

Jo’s grandmother tells the girls wonderful stories about having visited the mythical island of Nakali (short for “Nakalimutan”, meaning “forgotten” in Tagalog) and the dreaded Manang (short for Manananggal, a terrifying creature from the folklore of the Philippines, said to have the ability to detach and separate its upper torso from the lower part of its body, its fangs and wings giving it a vampire-like appearance).

The girls dream of finding the magical sand dollar on the beach that serves as a portal to the island of Nakali, but life gets in the way until the time comes for them to leave school, with Raissa being accepted to Caltech in the USA while Jo has to stay at home in the Philippines.

The night before Raissa’s departure, however, they find themselves transported to the magical island of Nakali, where many adventures await them, meeting good creatures and bad along the road.

The story is a bit of a hero’s journey, with the girls making allies such as Raww, a were-dog and meeting and battling many other characters from Philippine folklore such as Batiba, a Batibat who gets people to trade their memories, Bungi, a Tiyanak who tells them that the “Jewel of the Sea” they seek was stolen by a Duwende king, and Mermahn, a Kataw who claims the sand dollar is in his kingdom.

Visually, this is a beautiful cartoon where the vibrant colours of the Philippines are brought to life, especially on the island of Nakali where anything is possible. It is fast-paced with a lot of humour and wisecracks and does not lag at any stage. Its message is the power of friendship and not giving up on the ones you love, which is a good lesson for kids to take on board these days.

I was accompanied by a seven-year-old who loved it, though he found the dreaded Manang a bit scary at its first appearances. Large amounts of popcorn helped, though!

Overall, this is a good, fun animated feature for younger viewers with lots of colour and life-affirming messages. It is nice to see Philippine folklore brought to the big screen too.