Forgotten Island Review: A Colorful, Big-Hearted Ode to Friendship

There’s a very specific kind of dread that comes with graduating high school next to your best friend, knowing your lives are about to pull you in different directions. Forgotten Island takes that quiet anxiety and turns it into a full-blown fantasy adventure, complete with demons, memory magic, and a giant spork used as a weapon.

This is DreamWorks Animation’s newest original film, from directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, the team behind Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Original stories are rare in animation right now, and this one takes a genuine swing.

What’s It About

Jo (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano) have been inseparable since childhood. Now they’ve just graduated high school in the Philippines, and their lives are about to head in separate directions. During one last night together, they stumble through a mysterious portal and land on Nakali, a fantastical island pulled straight out of the Filipino folklore they grew up hearing from their families.

The catch: every magical creature they’ve only heard about in stories turns out to be real, and getting home comes with a steep price. To leave the island, Jo and Raissa will have to give up every memory of their friendship. With help from a hapless weredog named Raww (Dave Franco) and a ragtag group of new friends, they race to find another way out before facing off against the island’s most feared creature, the shapeshifting Manananggal (Lea Salonga).

The Review

The best thing Forgotten Island has going for it is how specific it feels. This isn’t generic fantasy-adventure world-building. It’s built directly from Filipino mythology and culture, and it wears that specificity proudly — karaoke parties, lechon at family gatherings, mythological creatures most Western audiences have never seen animated before. For Filipino American viewers especially, there are details scattered throughout that feel like they were made with real care, not just research.

Visually, the film is a showcase. Crawford and Mercado bring the same mixed-media, anything-goes animation style that made Puss in Boots: The Last Wish stand out, layering different art styles into individual scenes for a series of delightful little films-within-a-film. Nakali itself is gorgeous — glowing caves, crowded island villages, forests that look genuinely alive.

Underneath the chaos and the creature fights, the film also earns some real emotional weight. Jo’s fear of being left behind by everyone she loves, and Raissa’s instinct to avoid risk at all costs, both feel like true teenage anxieties rather than plot devices. By the time the two are forced to make real sacrifices for each other, the film has done enough work that it actually lands.

Where It Wobbles

Not every choice the two leads make holds up to scrutiny — there are a few moments where the plot only moves forward because the characters do something a little too reckless or convenient. It’s a minor gripe, and arguably a forgivable one, given how much of the story is powered by two teenagers making questionable decisions under pressure. That’s sort of the point.

Reception has also been a bit split. Some critics have found plenty to love in the film’s heart and craft, while others have felt the story leans a little too hard on familiar DreamWorks formula underneath all that visual invention. Both takes are fair — this isn’t a movie reinventing the animated-adventure wheel, even if it dresses that wheel up beautifully.

Who This Is For

Families looking for something with genuine visual imagination and a real emotional core will find a lot to like here, especially anyone drawn to stories rooted in mythology outside the usual Greek-and-Norse rotation. Filipino audiences in particular should find a lot to connect with, given how much the film leans into specific cultural detail rather than a vague, borrowed sense of “magic.”

Younger kids might find a few of the creature encounters genuinely scary — the film’s PG rating reflects some intense action and a handful of eerie moments — so it’s worth knowing that going in.

The Verdict

Forgotten Island is a vibrant, original animated adventure that takes real risks with its world-building and mostly sticks the landing. It’s not flawless, but it’s rare enough these days to see a big studio animated film built from scratch, rooted in a specific culture, and genuinely interested in what friendship costs as people grow up. That alone makes it worth the trip.

Rating: 4/5

Watch the Trailer

Quick Facts

• Title: Forgotten Island
• Directors/Writers: Joel Crawford, Januel Mercado
• Studio: DreamWorks Animation
• Genre: Animated Fantasy Adventure
• Runtime: 1h 48m
• Rated: PG (scary action, rude humor, some violence, thematic elements)
• Starring: H.E.R., Liza Soberano, Dave Franco, Manny Jacinto, Lea Salonga, Jenny Slate, Dolly de Leon
• Release date: September 25, 2026

Where to Watch

Forgotten Island is now playing in theaters nationwide.

Final Thoughts

Forgotten Island is proof that big studio animation still has room for genuine originality, especially when it’s willing to dig into a specific culture instead of a generic fantasy template. It’s colorful, funny, and surprisingly moving once it gets going — a solid pick for family movie night.

Have you seen “Forgotten Island”? Share your thoughts in the comments below.