Forgotten Island: Film Review

"Forgotten Island"Written and Directed by Joel Crawford and Januel MercadoStarring H.E.R., Liza Soberano, Dave Franco, Jenny Slate, Manny Jacinto, Dolly de Leon, Jo Koy, Ronny Chieng, Lea SalongaRated PG for animated sequences of scary action, language, rude humor, thematic elements, some violence, and brief tobacco imageryRuntime: 109 minutesRelease Date: September 25, 2026

Final Thought

Forgotten Island is a wonderfully animated and beautiful story steeped in Filipino culture.

Rating

★★★★ / 5

Logline

From Dreamworks Animation:

While celebrating their last night together, Jo and Raissa stumble upon a mysterious portal that transports them to the fantastical island of Nakali, packed with magical and mythological creatures they grew up hearing stories about from their Filipino families. Some of these figures will become friends, some foes. Joined by well-meaning-but- hapless weredog Raww and a small-but-mighty pack of pals, Jo and Raissa must face The Dreaded Manananggal, the most feared creature on the island. When they discover that the memories of their entire friendship are the price for returning home, Jo and Raissa will race to find a way to leave the island before they forget each other forever.

Review: Across the Yuri-Verse

I’m grateful that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Sony Animation brought artistic sensibilities back into what was an increasingly realistic animation landscape and forced studios to do a complete quality control overhaul - Disney is the only studio that could afford to not follow the trend - but I worry that its specific mixed-media/storybook style is starting to become too homogenized. The lesson that should’ve been learned from its success was to try new and different things, not to keep replicating one thing.

Is Miles Morales Oppenheimer? Will this technical innovation hurt us and our art later on? Thankfully, we’re not too far gone yet, as films like KPop Demon Hunters, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish - Joel Crawford's and Januel P. Mercado’s last collaboration - and this film, Forgotten Island, remember to maintain unique stories beyond the popular style.

Forgotten Island tells the story of two lifelong best friends in 1990s Philippines, Jo and Raissa (H.E.R. and Liza Soberano, respectively), as they prepare to enter the most important time of their lives: college. Lasting from grade school through the death of Jo’s Lola Fatima (Dolly De Leon), their friendship has endured, but as Raissa’s family and aspirations pull her to America for school, Jo becomes worried leading up to their last night together. That’s when a mysterious sand dollar washes ashore and pulls the girls into the fantastical realm of Nakali, a land of monsters and mythical creatures spoken of by Jo’s Lola Fatima. After losing twelve hours and the sand dollar, though, the girls must entrust the help of a weredog named Raww (Dave Franco) to retrace their steps and find their way home.

The Hangover plot is simply a thin veil for themes of the powers of friendship and memory - The Hangover meets Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind… for children.

The voice cast of this film is one of its best aspects. H.E.R. does well in her voice acting debut, while Liza Soberano makes an impression in her first role since 2024's Lisa Frankestein. Supporting cast members Dave Franco and Lea Salonga give memorable performances, while Manny Jacinto, Dolly De Leon, Jenny Slate, Jo Koy, Ronny Chieng, and others fill out the strong ensemble.

I am in no way mad about how the film looks – I just don’t want us to get stuck. I cannot overstate this film’s gorgeous use of color and storybook animation style. The mixed and multiple animation styles – a technique recently popularized by Spider-Verse – are used to great visual and comedic effect and every single color is here. Every single one. Name one. It’s in there. The work by production designer Ryan Carlson, visual effects supervisor Betty Nofsinger, the character animation team, and cinematography team is so striking and the film's bright, colorful, and kinetic images stayed with me long after.

Films about friendships changing are important for children. One of my favorite films to show my middle school students is Pablo Berger’s Oscar-nominated 2024 film Robot Dreams, an animated film about a dog and his best friend robot being separated and their efforts, both mental and physical, to find their way back to each other. Confronted with an unconventional, bittersweet ending, they are almost always sad, but they always enjoy the experience and, on multiple occasions, have asked to watch the film again.

L-R: Raissa (Liza Soberano) and Jo (H.E.R.) in "Forgotten Island"

A relationship changing - friendly, romantic, or otherwise - can be of the most difficult moments in any person’s life, but it’s the memory that truly fills you. I appreciate coming-of-age films that are honest with their demographic about these hard times and try to understand what happens to the adolescent psyche during them. Might Forgotten Island lay the “power of friendship” trope on a bit thick in service of those goals? Yes - it even goes as far as verbalizing the effect of the power of their friendship - but it works (I cried) and it is appreciated nonetheless (like all through the credits).

The script from Crawford and Mercado is well-balanced - a quality unfortunately rare in children’s media - packed with emotion, energy, and exciting world-building. The first act set in the Philippines is a true reflection of Filipino culture and family dynamics, from the food to the karaoke. The eponymous “forgotten” island of Nakali is thoroughly and magnetically realized as a gorgeous confluence of Filipino mythology and fantasy, complete with incredibly unique characters. The “Aswang” - an umbrella term for supernatural creatures according to Mercado - all have such strong character design, ranging from the unsettling Batiba (Jenny Slate) to the downright scary antagonist Manang (Lea Salonga).

It is also quite hilarious. Admittedly, I had no expectations for the humor, but I was surprised by how often I was laughing. The film pushes the PG rating in a few ways - the Hangover influence, lightly terrifying character design, three bits, one recurring, about nipples - but as the lead characters are almost college-aged, nothing ever feels out-of-place. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t note the queer undertones of this friendship story, coded through their appearances, color palette, and emotionally involved relationship. The film is explicitly a story about two best friends, but the yuri is strong with this one.

Forgotten Island is a sweet film. I was genuinely surprised by how moving its energetic story was, even down to the end credits sequence. Some of its themes feel a bit heavy-handed, but its hilarious culturally rich script, mature influences, and striking rendition of a popular animation style render this one of the best animated films of the year.

Viewed on 9/16/26 at press screening

Published on 9/23/26

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