Forgotten Island review: A sand dollar portal into Filipino folklore and friendship
Forgotten Island, in theatres Friday, uses Filipino folklore to tell a story about friendship, memory and growing up.
A sand dollar serves as the gateway to another world in Forgotten Island, the new DreamWorks Animation release that draws heavily on Philippine mythology. Unlike the brick tunnel of Spirited Away or the wardrobe of Narnia, this portal is a humble beach find — and it opens onto Nakalimutan, the mythical island where creatures of Filipino folklore are said to live.
The film is written and directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, the team behind Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Their latest effort assembles an eclectic cast of creatures: an eight-foot-tall, 200-year-old demon baby with three eyes; a shallow merman with singing nipples; and a legion of mushroom warriors. The visual language is equally restless, mixing anime and manga influences with 1990s street art, video games and classic Hanna-Barbera animation.
The story centres on Jo and Raissa, two slightly unhinged schoolgirls who meet in the principal's office and bond over a shared fascination with Nakalimutan. Their friendship deepens over the years, marked by charms added to matching bracelets after each shared adventure. The bond is tested when Raissa prepares to leave for Caltech in the United States, while Jo, an aspiring artist, works fast-food mascot jobs. Raissa's disapproving mother questions how a rocket can fly with a boulder attached.
On the night they must part, the friends find the sand dollar and are transported to Nakalimutan, where they wake with their memories wiped. Raissa has half her hair shaved and a pair of wings; Jo has a strange tattoo and a crown. Piecing together what happened becomes the film's central puzzle, and the two must also find a way home.
H.E.R. voices Jo and Liza Soberano voices Raissa. The supporting cast includes Jenny Slate as a memory-stealing demon, Ronny Chieng as King Truffle Wuffle, Joy Koy as the leader of tree giants, Lea Salonga as a vampiric creature with yellow cat eyes who can detach her torso, and Dave Franco as an anxious were-dog whose loyalty is uncertain.
The film incorporates Tagalog, energy drinks, flaming Cheetos, Post-its and a score featuring indigenous Filipino instruments. Its soundtrack ranges from boisterous karaoke to Journey's Don't Stop Believing and INXS' Never Tear Us Apart, which appears twice. Jokes reference Tom Cruise, Will Smith's Oscar slap and footage of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator.
Beneath the visual overload, Jo and Raissa must confront unresolved differences. "You have a future. I don't," Jo tells Raissa. The final act follows their struggle to recover their memories, including those they built together. The film is as much about forgetting as remembering.
Forgotten Island is rated PG for animated sequences of scary action, language, rude humour, thematic elements, some violence and brief tobacco imagery. It runs 95 minutes and opens in theatres Friday.