Charles Merritt was struck by more than just the stunning visuals in Dreamworks’ latest animation Forgotten Island. With its focus on two best friends, he reflects on friendship with each other and with Jesus – and that alone makes it a film well worth watching for older children over half-term.
Age rating: PG
Runtime: 108 minutes
See this if you liked: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish; KPop Demon Hunters
Synopsis:
Two best friends are transported to a magical realm that they’d spent their lives dreaming about, only to find that getting home will require them to sacrifice all of their memories of one another.
Review:
DreamWorks have always been hit or miss for me, but over the past few years they’ve released some incredible films. The first to blow me away was Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and then it was The Wild Robot. Now, here comes Forgotten Island to create a hat-trick.
Forgotten Island is from the same creative team as Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and they haven’t lost their touch.
Inspired by Filipino folklore, the movie centres around two best friends: anarchist Jo and budding scientist Raissa, both of whom grow up believing in the stories of Jo’s grandma about a forgotten island full of mystical creatures. When the two best friends are about to be separated due to Raissa leaving for university, a portal appears and the friends are transported to the realm they’d dreamt of since kids. But their memory is foggy, not able to recall what happened when they first arrived on the island. They must work out how to remember the night before so they can get home in time for Raissa’s flight.
Jesus even makes a fun cameo in the movie…
The visuals are gorgeous – bright, beautiful and creative. There are some similarities to KPop Demon Hunters in the animation style (which I love), as well as the aforementioned Puss in Boots. As different characters give their accounts of the wild night before, their flashbacks are animated in different styles, which I found to be really charming and helped to establish the new characters we were meeting.
Speaking of characters, I loved every weird creature we were introduced to. My favourite was probably Raww – a dog-boy hybrid – who is desperate to prove that he’s not a bad dog. There were other side characters whom I also adored, but I won’t ruin the surprise of who they are as that’s part of the fun! Let’s just say that, because of one of these characters, I’ll never look at starfish in the same way.
There is some use of mild bad language and the film does include demons. But it’s important to remember that these “demons” are morally grey and part of another culture’s folklore, in the same way trolls and centaurs are. They are not demonic in the way that we as Christians would be wary of, and I don’t think this should dissuade children from watching the film. In fact, Jesus even makes a fun little cameo in the movie…
Overall, it’s a fun, emotional journey, with perhaps some darker jokes than normal for a family-friendly film. For older children and parents during half-term, it’s ideal.
Faith thoughts:
Friendships can be a fickle thing for children growing up, and it’s rare to find someone who fully understands you and sticks by you no matter what. But when you find a best friend, it’s hard to imagine life without them.
Of course, the same is true for our friendship with Jesus.
I really loved the idea of a friendship bracelet that gets added to each time a new memory is made. Not only do I think this is a good idea for friends to do, I wonder what a Jesus friendship bracelet would look like? A charm for each moment in your journey of faith.
Okay, so maybe that’s a little cheesy, but I think it could help remind us of moments we might later forget in life and be something we can turn to in moments where it feels as though God is distant or doesn’t care about us. We could look at our memory bracelet and remember all the times He pulled through for us. Perhaps it’s just a memory box we keep by our bedside (if wearing jewellery isn’t your thing or you know you’d lose it…).
I wonder what a Jesus friendship bracelet would look like?
Back to friendships, sometimes we make friends with people who feel like the complete opposite to us, and we struggle to remember why we became friends in the first place. However, it can be that our friends pull us out of our comfort zones and make us braver. My best friend does that for me. I’m quite shy when meeting new people or interacting with strangers, but he forces me to by introducing me or making me do stupid things (in a fun way, not a mean way), and I’ve made some great memories because of his ability to draw me out of my shell.
I really loved the dynamic between Jo and Raissa, because it felt real. You could see how much they loved each other, even when they were driving each other crazy. It reminded me a little of the friendship between Ruth and Naomi in the Old Testament. Ride or die. Where you go, I’ll go.
I hope every child finds a friendship as strong as that.
