REVIEW: ‘Forgotten Island’ Is A Memorable And Hilarious Adventure

One of the greatest things about animated movies is their ability to bring vibrant cultures to life for audiences that may otherwise never see and appreciate them. Films like Coco, Moana, and KPop Demon Hunters are great stories in addition to being celebrations of cultures from around the world. Forgotten Island brings an animated film for western audiences to a celebration of Filipino culture. This charming and incredibly well executed story by directors and writers Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado is an excellent reminder to cherish every memory.

Set in the Philippines during the 1990s, Forgotten Island follows Jo (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano), best friends since childhood. Raissa is a certifiable genius that on her own is quiet and shy. By contrast, Jo is a chaos goblin that can’t sit still and isn’t afraid to get in trouble, likely because Jo’s only family, her grandmother Lola (Dolly de Leon) is just as wild as she is.

On the day they meet, Jo and Raissa seal their friendship with matching bracelets and over the course of the years, they add charms to their bracelets that signify a major moment in their lives. The first such charm is two halves of a small knitted Manananggal.

Forgotten Island is a celebration of Filipino culture and friendship. 

The Manananggal is a vampire-like beast from Filipino folklore and in Forgotten Island, Lola has been to a secret island accessible only by a portal called Nakali Island. The girls make a promise that they’re going to find their way to Nakali Island one day to see the Manananggal among other creatures Lola has told them about.

That day comes on the night before Raissa is set to go to CalTech in the United States. While Jo desperately tries to hold on to Raissa as long as possible, Raissa is ready to move on to the next chapter in her life. Instead, the girls are sucked into a portal and find themselves on the mythical Nakali Island.

When they awake, 12 hours have passed and a lot has evidently happened since they arrived but they can’t remember any of it. Raissa is missing half a head’s worth of hair, Jo is wearing a crown, and their new companion Raww (Dave Franco) claims that the three of them became The Wild Pack with he and Jo having matching tattoos of the name to commemorate it.

The animated film pays attention to bringing the details to life. 

Jo and Raissa will have to race against the clock to get back in time for Raissa to catch her plane but first they’ll need to retrace their steps to see where they left the portal key that brought them down in the first place.

Forgotten Island does a great job paying attention to details with the creatures of Nakali Island all having a place in Filipino Folklore. Aside from Manang (Lea Salonga), the dreaded Manananggal, Jo and Raissa meet Bungi (Manny Jacinto), Batiba (Jenny Slate), Datu (Jo Koy), Truffle Wuffle (Ronny Chieng), and Mermahn (Kevin McCann).

Each of these characters are significant pieces from Filipino culture showing that Crawford and Mercado didn’t merely draw from the culture as a set piece but truly immersed Forgotten Island into the rich cultural heritage of the Filipino people.

While there’s plenty of laughs the film never forgets its heart. 

The humor is unbelievable. At times, it’s easy to forget that it’s a PG-rated family movie because Forgotten Island is funny enough to appeal to both kids and adults of all ages. No one character becomes “the funny guy.” While Jo has class clown energy, every single character is written with an immense level of wit and personality.

The message of the film is beautiful even if it whacks audiences over the head with no subtlety at all. The name, Forgotten Island aside, there are also so many indications as to what the film is trying to portray. One character is stealing memories. Songs like Simple Minds’ “Don’t You” (Forget About Me) do some heavy lifting in reminding us what the film is about.

Still, the message is simple. Memories are important. They make people who they are. To take them away, would strip people of an essential part of their being. It also highlights the importance of making memories with those we love. The message has enough emotional depth to matter without going over the heads of the kids that are sure to be watching.

Forgotten Island taps into nostalgic notes while staying in the present. 

The ending credits even tap into this theme. It features the cast and crew members in Polaroid photo frames with old pictures of them featuring the memories they made with other people. Some of these photos are so old that the actors like Dave Franco are kids in them. It makes the presence of other people in the picture feel like playing Where’s Waldo?

The casting is phenomenal. Even with recognizable voices, no one stands out so much as to steal the show from their castmates. The mostly Filipino voice cast is a great testament to the sheer amount of talent the filmmakers had to work with. No one feels like a token wedged in just because of their ethnicity. Each member of the cast earns their spot on Nakali Island.

The score is almost perfect. While some of the pop culture millennial and Gen-X anthems are only included for the nostalgia of ’80s and ’90s kids, there’s an entire score by Filipino-American composer Nathan Matthew David that celebrates every piece of folklore in Forgotten Island individually. Further, David’s score heavily features the voice of Manang, Lea Salonga. Audiences may know her iconic voice as the singing voice of the ’90s Disney character, Mulan.

Dreamworks delivers a vibrant film that stands out. 

The art direction is also very impressive. With a basic art style that fits Dreamworks films in the same vein as movies like The Bad Guys, Forgotten Island is a bright and vibrant adventure. Flashbacks are done in 80s or early ’90s action cartoon style not unlike Voltron or video games like Street Fighter II. It gives Forgotten Island a bit of cheese and camp that fits the humor very well.

If there was one real criticism, it’s that the film pulls from other stories quite a bit. While it wouldn’t be fair to say that it’s a simple re-hash of an existing story, Forgotten Island at times feels like Dude Where’s My Car? and Inside Out. It mostly gets a pass because of the unique way in which tackles their shared themes but there were opportunities to do something somewhat more original without losing the plot.

Forgotten Island is at its best for most of the film. There is emotion that keeps it from feeling like a shallow Saturday morning cartoon. A scene rarely goes by without giving the audience something very funny to laugh at. It may not be perfect, but Forgotten Island is a lesson in film excellence that audiences aren’t likely to forget.

Forgotten Island will be released in theaters September 25, 2026.