Forgotten Island review: frenetic animation sidelines friendship and emotional depth
DreamWorks' *Forgotten Island* is a new animated adventure centring on childhood best friends Jo and Raissa, who discover a magical portal to a forgotten island. The reviewer criticises the film for being relentlessly over-energised and over-controlled, arguing it exemplifies soulless, algorithmic animation production that never allows characters to develop or creates genuine emotional moments.
Set in the Philippines during the pre-internet 1990s, Jo (voiced by R&B artist HER) is a troubled teen who reconnects with Raissa (Liza Soberano) after years of diverging life paths. The two accidentally fall through a portal to the magical island of Nakali and awaken with no memory of their activities there, leading to a quest narrative involving a shapeshifting dog, a memory demon, and other fantastical characters. The film releases on 17 September in Australia, 25 September in the US, and 16 October in the UK.
- DreamWorks animation criticised as over-energised and emotionally hollow
- Two friends explore magical island whilst suffering convenient amnesia
- Reviewer finds film exemplifies exhausting, algorithmic content production
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Originally published by The Guardian as “Forgotten Island review – best friends forever trapped in frantic DreamWorks animation”.