Two best friends become stranded on the mystical world of Nakali, where their only escape might cost them their shared lifetime of memories. (from IMDb)

What would you get if you took the animation styles of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, GOAT, The Mitchells vs. the Machines and The Bad Guys 2 and blended them together? I imagine it'd look something like Forgotten Island. Tonally and sylistically, the movie kind of feels like Moana-on-crack mixed with Hoppers and maybe a dash of Turning Red. It's a girl-besties movie rooted deeply (very deeply) in Filipino culture and folklore. I wouldn't say it's exclusively accessible to a female audience, but it's definitely geared more towards them. The story revolves around a tomboy named Jo who lives in the Philippines and is a bit of an eccentric and outsider -- and completely obsessed with Filipino folklore. While a little girl in school, she meets another girl, Raissa, and the two become fast friends. As teenagers in the 1990s on the eve of Raissa going off to college, their deep friendship is put to the test when they find a medallion that transports them to the mythical island of Nakali -- where they discover that the folklore is all true.

The movie, while endearing with its focus on the bond of true friendship, is really bizarre. There's quirky and weird, and then there's Forgotten Island. I'd imagine it'd be an absolute joy to watch if you're a Filipino girl who knows all there is to know about the folklore, but as a moviegoing guy born and raised in the U.S.-- it's a bit of a shock to the system to watch. For an outsider, the movie just feels like it's about as random as you can get. It may seem like someone took a long list of ideas, drew a few from a hat, and figured out a way to put them all into this movie. While Forgotten Island largely feels fresh and unique because of that, it doesn't always come together well. The writer/directors Joel Crawford and Januel P. Mercado wanted to steep the story in Filipino culture, but they also wanted to push the animation style way out of the box. And because of that, it often just feels chaotic -- if not obnoxious -- at times in its execution. Some ideas are fun and cool, but the end result feels about as cohesive as the friendship bracelets the girls wear made up of miscellaneous charms hanging off them. The movie often plays out like it was made in a blender. Again, it makes it very visually interesting and unpredictable, but it also often feels like a fever dream.

Once on the island of Nakali, the girls find themselves waking up on the shore with no memory of the last twelve hours. It's very much like the premise of The Hangover (I haven't seen it, but I did love the Psych episode that paid homage to it) where they need to retrace their steps to figure out what happened the night before. They have a limited amount of time to get back home (I very much appreciated the brief countdown clock gag from the 24 TV show), while trying to follow clues. They end up using island dweller Raww as their guide -- a teenage boy who turns into a dog at sporadic times, either in part or in whole. They end up running into a diverse group of creatures, including the three-eyed "demon baby" Bungi, some feisty and adorable cherub-like natives, a self-absorbed male mermaid prince, a large agoraphobic cat, and a vampiric demon creature that can split itself in half. (Yeah, take a moment to let all of that soak in.) Again, I get it if this is all commonplace for the Filipino culture, but for everyone else, it feels like a grab bag of random creatures and ideas. Crawford and Mercado also frequently shift the animation from 3D to 2D to anime to hand-drawn... It's visually rich, but it's also a little exhausting. And when the girls break into music-video-style posing mid-story and splash an energy drink at the screen, it's only cringey to watch.

The movie embraces the PG rating pretty firmly. Between frequent mentions and visual depictions of demons and some mild profanity that includes several uses of "h*lla" and two incomplete "Son of a--", the filmmakers seemed comfortable pushing what's expected in a PG-rated animated family feature. Other profanity even includes a use of "d*mn," a couple of "cr*p," and a use of "p*ssing people off." It just feels awfully salty for a movie like this. Oddly enough, there are a few questionable references to Jesus, including Jo casually alluding to getting kicked out of Catholic school as a kid, and her Lola throws a shoe at a neighbor who blesses herself in Jesus' name after rebuking Lola for being a witch (because of her stories about demons). Later, at a party, we see a photorealistic depiction of one of the most famous paintings of Jesus, which Jo greets with zero reverence as she walks by. And after an accident occurs that Jo is responsible for, the camera focuses on the painting as if Jesus might be judging what happened. I get that it may all be done for fun, but when the film seems to celebrate a child's interest in a demonic creature like Manang, it could possibly be interpreted as intentionally mocking people of faith. But, I could also see Crawford and Mercado including images of Jesus in the film simply because He's important to some peoples' faith within the culture.

I have to admit, I'm still not entirely sure what I watched here. It's definitely artistically interesting, and while I struggled to fully appreciate the frenetic use of all the styles of animation used here, I understand why they wanted to push the envelope in that department. Underneath all the craziness of the story, and the wacky nature of the whole thing, the heart of the film is the close friendship of Jo and Raissa. By the time it gets to the last act -- which felt heavily inspired by Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (with maybe a dash of Stranger Things) -- the movie sticks the landing emotionally. Maybe I'm just a sucker for sappier stuff, but if you've ever experienced a close friendship, you can understand the emotional weight of the pair's connection. For me, it's that bond that saved the movie.

In the end, Forgotten Island is an imaginative and creative DreamWorks venture that may not be anywhere near top-tier for the animation studio, but is certainly a bold and daring animated effort. The content is surprisingly edgy for the studio and earns its PG rating, but it's especially the imagery about demons inspired by the Filipino folklore that viewers may want to be cautious about before viewing. It's probably a polarizing one for sure, but Forgotten Island is so truly bizarre that it's definitely not one that's easily forgotten.

- John DiBiase (reviewed: 10/29/26)

Forgotten Island is now available through digital retailers in 4K, and will release on disc December 1, 2026. The 4K presentation is excellent; it's a ridiculously colorful movie and the 4K presentation does it justice. Right out of the gate, just a month since its theatrical debut, the digital release comes with quite a few extras:

Friends for Life (4:14) - The film was made as an homage to the directors' families and Filipino heritage. They wrote the story to be about friendship and found family. This segment also focuses on the chemistry between Liza and H.E.R. off screen as well as on screen as Raissa and Jo.

Creatures of Lore (11:31) - Here, they go through the various characters and their respective voice actors: Dave Franco as Raww, Manny Jacinto as Bungi the demon baby, Ronnie Chieng as King Truffle Wuffle, Kevin McCann as Prince Mermahn, Jo Koy as Datu, Lea Solanga as Manang, and Jenny Slate as Batiba. We see many of the actors in the studio as they record their voice takes, and then hear from some of them talking about their roles as well.

Tayo Na! The Making of FORGOTTEN ISLAND (6:55) - Here, the directors talk about blending different animation styles in order to break out of the box of what's expected in animation, including bringing some anime elements into it. We also find out here that they mixed 2D and 3D elements, and even had a couple scenes drawn by hand!

Friendship and Filipino Culture (5:09) - The directors have worked together on various films since meeting while working on Kung Fu Panda 2. In preparation for Forgotten Island, the duo took a research trip to the Philippines and discovered that these myths are alive over there.

The Sounds of FORGOTTEN ISLAND (6:16) - The production went to Abbey Road to score the film with composer Nathan Matthew David. He went to the Philippines to study the culture's music, and then enlisted the help of Filipino girl group BINI. (They sang the lyrics in tagalog, too.) We also find out that Lea Salonga ended up singing on some music for her character, Manang. Finally, we discover that they went to Manila to record the only-existing bamboo pipe organ, which was predominently used for the character of Batiba. (1 "h*ll")

"A Parallel World" Lyric Video (3:45) - This is the lyric video for the song, performed by Filipino group BINI.

Feature Commentary (1:48:53) - This is a feature-length commentary provided by writer/directors Joel Crawford and Januel P. Mercado.

How To Draw: The Wild Pack (24:22) - This is a collection of three How-To-Draw segments, with each one focused on a different character: Bungi Tiyanak (5:12), Prince Mermahn (11:39) and Raww (7:31).