There has been a lot of discourse around Forgotten Island online, and that’s understandable. Filipinos naturally want this movie to do well. We want Hollywood to see that Filipino stories can fill a theater. We want people outside the Philippines to know what a manananggal is. We want our mythology, our food, our jokes, and our very Filipino way of doing things to exist on a giant Hollywood screen.

So it’s a little heartbreaking that, despite the good reviews, Forgotten Island only tracked $20 million during its opening weekend worldwide. With an estimated $80 million production budget, that would put it among DreamWorks Animation’s weakest openings. So, is the movie actually worth watching?

The Plot

Forgotten Island follows longtime best friends Jo (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano), who are about to go their separate ways after high school. On their last night together, the two stumble upon a mysterious portal that transports them to Nakali, a fantastical island filled with the Filipino mythical creatures they grew up hearing about.

There’s just one problem: they don’t know how to get back home. With the portal key lost and no recollection of the night they spent on the island, Jo and Raissa have no choice but to trust the creatures around them. Getting home means figuring out how to escape before they forget the very friendship they’re trying to save.

The Good: It highlights Filipino mythology

There’s a lot to love about Forgotten Island, but perhaps its biggest achievement is how it makes Filipino mythology feel like something the rest of the world can have fun discovering.

Our folklore is filled with creatures that have scared Filipino kids for generations, and the movie gives them a full-blown Hollywood playground. Lea Salonga voices the terrifying, body-splitting manananggal, while Manny Jacinto voices Bungi, a misunderstood tiyanak. Jo Koy voices a giant, forest-dwelling kapre, while Ronny Chieng voices the leader of a group of temperamental duwendes.

And then there’s Raww, a highly energetic and loyal werewolf-slash-aspin voiced by Dave Franco, and Prince Mermahn (pronounced mer-MAHN), the vain half-man half-fish voiced by Kevin McCann.

It’s a pretty wild lineup, but that’s also what makes it work. These are creatures that feel distinctly Filipino, yet Forgotten Island presents them in a way that makes their stories and personalities easy for audiences anywhere in the world to enjoy. Although, as Filipinos, we know that these mythological creatures are anything but cute in the stories we grew up hearing.

The Good: It’s a story about friendship

Aside from the characters, there’s the Filipino-ness of the world itself. At one point, a going-away party manages to pack what feels like a million Filipino references into five minutes. There’s lumpia. There’s karaoke. There’s lechon. There are titos and titas. There’s even the very Filipino experience of relatives insisting that Raissa take a selfie with all the Hollywood actors she’ll see. Ehem, Tom Cruise.

It can feel almost ridiculous how many references they manage to squeeze in. But then again, that’s also kind of the point. And underneath all the references and mythical creatures, the movie’s heart is surprisingly universal: friendship.

At its core, this is a story about two best friends afraid of growing apart. Jo and Raissa have reached that awkward point in life when childhood is ending, and everything is changing. One is leaving. One is staying. And suddenly, the question isn’t just whether they’ll make it home from a magical island, but whether they’ll still know each other when they do. You don’t have to be Filipino to understand that.

The Bad

If we’re being completely honest, most of our complaints about Forgotten Island fall under the category of nitpicks. The biggest one would have to be the accents.

When the characters say words and names like “Nakali,” “Manang,” or “Bungi” in an English accent, Filipino viewers will probably cringe a little. And hearing “Tayo na!” with an accent repeatedly throughout the movie can have the same effect.

It’s especially noticeable because the movie is so proudly Filipino. You’d think there would have been extra attention paid to making sure Filipino words were pronounced naturally, or at least that the actors sounded like they were making an effort to say them the way Filipinos actually would.

There are also moments when the Filipino references feel a little too neatly packaged. Sometimes you can practically see the filmmakers checking off the list: lumpia, karaoke, lechon, a framed photo of Jesus, tinikling (at a party?), nosy titos and titas, throwing slippers at annoying people. You get it. But even then, it’s difficult to stay annoyed for too long because the movie’s heart is very much in the right place.

The Verdict

Look, we already know how we’re answering this. Yes, go watch Forgotten Island. Not because it’s a perfect representation of the Philippines. It isn’t. Not because every Filipino reference will land perfectly. They won’t. Go because it’s genuinely fun. Go because it gives Filipino mythology the kind of huge, colorful animated treatment we’ve rarely seen from a major Hollywood studio.

Forgotten Island is proudly Filipino, made at a scale that Hollywood has traditionally reserved for other cultures and stories. For once, we’re the ones on the big screen telling everyone else about the monsters we grew up hearing about. If you’ve been waiting for a reason to spend your movie money this year, this one is worth considering.

Tayo na!

Forgotten Island is now showing in theaters nationwide.

Check us out on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, and YouTube, to be the first to know about the latest news and coolest trends!