‘Forgotten Island’ review: DreamWorks’ Philippines-set adventure is a vivid celebration of folklore and friendship

Dirs/scr: Joel Crawford, Januel Mercardo. US. 2026

When two Filipino teenage girls, inseparable since childhood, find a portal to the mythical Forgotten Island, they find the journey will test their friendship in ways neither could have imagined. While the latest Dreamworks animation boasts a fantastical, culturally-specific storyline, eye-popping visuals and a high-octane soundtrack befitting its 1990s Philippines setting, it’s this emphasis on female friendship, on the real-world joys of platonic love and loyalty, that gives Forgotten Island its charming appeal.

The animation is crafted like a collage of memories pasted together with confident, youthful brio

Directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado (2022’s Puss In Boots: The Last Wish) the film hits UK cinemas on October 16 having opened in the US on September 25 and further territories since, and taking $52m to date. (By comparison, DreamWorks’ top performer, 2004’s Shrek 2, achieved $929m worldwide, The Last Wish scored $480m and its most recent animation, last year’s Dogman, hit $146m.) Audiences in the UK and upcoming territories including France could help boost its fortunes, although the imminent release of Street Fighter could steal away older family audiences.

In a pre-social media age of mixtapes and boomboxes, schoolgirls Jo (voiced by Grammy-winning musician H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano) bond over karaoke with Jo’s beloved grandmother Lola (Dolly Le Leon), watching Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, riding bikes and generally making their own rascally fun. A peppy montage shows the development of their relationship through adolescence, each key moment marked by a charm that gets added to their matching friendship bracelets. While Jo is boisterous and anarchic, Raissa is quiet and studious, but each finds a balance in the other – their endearing dynamic is powerfully drawn both by Crawford and Mercado’s screenplay, and animation which emphasises both their individuality and their closeness.

Lola’s death is a seismic event for both girls and makes the discovery of Forgotten Island (or Nakali), a place that the older woman claims to have visited in her youth, an emotionally-charged event. Unfortunately, it happens the night before Raissa heads to university in California – a move that both girls are dreading – and, when the pair wake up on a beach 12 hours later, with no memory of the night before (and no sign of their sand dollar portal key) they must retrace their steps across the island with the help of cocksure were-aspin (dog/human hybrid) Raww (Dave Franco).

As they embark on this The Hangover-inspired (yet age-appropriate) adventure, they encounter Nakali’s other fantastical inhabitants including memory demon Batabi (Jenny Slate) – whose feline features would not look out of place in a Miyazaki movie – egotistical Mermahn (Kevin McCann), giant baby Bungi (Manny Jacinto) and the terrifying vampire-like Menang (Lea Salonga)

Inspired by Mercado’s own childhood, the film brings a meaty cultural specificity to its location and characters, digging into Filipino tradition and folklore – particularly concerning the natural environment and our relationship to it. H.E.R and Soberano are fantastic as the two central best friends, their shoot-from-the-hip delivery and quick-witted banter indicative of genuine affection and a lifetime of shared experiences. The wider voice cast is also strong, with Slate bringing a mournful resignation to her compulsion to steal memories and McCann and Tiyanak given plenty of funny one-liners as unlikely double-act Mermahn and Bungi.

Unsurprisingly, the film is visually stunning, the animation crafted like a collage of memories pasted together with confident, youthful brio. Colourful and busy, it takes stylised cues from anime and manga and incorporates uses of 2D, digital and hand-drawn animation with other mixed-media (including live action scenes from Predator on the girls’ TV). In a landscape of vivid hues, the shadowy Menang is particularly impressive, her malevolent rage brought to life by her sharp edges which fizz and pulse.

On the island, a handheld camera style brings energy and immediacy to action which is pretty relentless throughout; frenetic editing and a bombastic 80s and 90s inspired soundtrack – led by INXS anthem ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ – never letting us catch our breath. The charge is undoubtedly led by Jo, who, hopped up on energy drinks and excitement, never seems to want to slow down, perhaps worried that, if she does, she’ll have time to think about what it may mean to be left behind – or, even worse, forgotten.