Forgotten Island Review: Laugh-Out-Loud DreamWorks Comedy Is Breathless, Joyful Chaos

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Jo and Raissa pose for a photo as seen through their friendship bracelet in Forgotten Island

A film that fully encapsulates this new era of American studio animation, Forgotten Island is overflowing with visual creativity and manic humor.

Published Sep 15, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT

Alex is the Senior Editor of Reviews & Prestige Content, overseeing ScreenRant's film reviews as one of its Rotten Tomatoes-approved critics. After graduating from Brown University with a B.A. in English, he spent a locked-down year in Scotland completing a Master's in Film Studies from the University of Edinburgh, which he hears is a nice, lively city. He now lives in and works from Milan, Italy, conveniently a short train ride from the Venice Film Festival, which he first covered for SR in 2024.

By now, general moviegoers are probably aware that a revolution is underway in studio animation. The "Pixar look" of computer-generated films that has been the gold standard is making way for something that replicates the stylistic variability of hand-drawn, 2D animation in CG, a wave kicked off by the success of the comic book-inspired design of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2018. Dreamworks has been quick to adopt the new technology in visually exciting films as varied as The Bad Guys, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and The Wild Robot.

Forgotten Island, directed by The Last Wish's Joel Crawford together with Januel Mercado, is the latest in that lineage – but it also taps into another way American animation is changing. As the next generation of filmmakers step up, a new sensibility is taking hold: kinetic, fast, often anime-influenced. A referential, internet-age sense of humor meets a visual ambition that borders on (or lapses into, depending on who you ask) sensory overload, resulting in jokes being condensed into a single frame and thrown at you in quick succession. The Spider-Verse films are again important here, as are Sony's The Mitchells vs. the Machines and KPop Demon Hunters; Pixar's Turning Red and Hoppers; and Paramount's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

In this new wave of movies, Forgotten Island rivals Across the Spider-Verse as the busiest of them. For some, that could prove overwhelming. I found it invigorating. Inspired by Filipino mythology, which proves very fertile ground as both a design template and a storytelling engine, this movie eschews the gentler vibe of the aforementioned Dreamworks titles for something that feels fueled by the energy drinks favored by the lead characters. Your experience with it will depend on whether you appreciate how far it leans into being a stoner-esque buddy comedy, perhaps at the expense of fully accessing the emotionality of its core premise – but get on its wavelength, and the laughs just don't stop.

In Forgotten Island, Under-Explored Folklore Is A Gift That Keeps On Giving

As a young girl in the Philippines, the unruly Jo (Kailey Crawford) is obsessed with Nakali, the mythical island where all the creatures of Filipino folklore live. She would be – her Lola Fatima (Dolly de Leon), the grandmother raising her, claims to have visited as a young woman. When Jo meets Raissa (Kayla Teruel), a reserved, bright girl who shares her fascination with the terrifying, vampire-like Manananggal, they decide right away to be best friends. In a fun, vibrant montage, Forgotten Island breezes through their years of misadventures, each notable moment earning a dedicated charm for their friendship bracelets.

Before long, they've graduated from high school, and seem destined for different paths. Jo (now voiced by the singer-songwriter H.E.R.) is joyfully, chaotically aimless, bouncing between jobs at their local mall. Raissa (Liza Soberano), meanwhile, is a driven scientist, somewhat frustrated with her friend's approach to life. Jo is a gifted artist, but does nothing to pursue it. Raissa, with some pressure from her parents, has set her goals higher: She's going to Cal Tech, with eyes on someday working at NASA. There's anxiety in both of them at what this means for their friendship, but for now, they're determined to make the most of their last night together.

As if the universe is listening, Jo and Raissa find the key to Nakali at their usual hangout spot, just as Jo's Lola described it. They dive in. But, when they come to on an unfamiliar beach, it's already morning. Raissa has lost a huge chunk of hair and gained a pair of leathery wings; Jo has a sketchy-looking new tattoo; and, most pressingly, the key is nowhere to be found. Enter Raww (Dave Franco), a bro-y were-dog, who claims they shared a wild and crazy night of Nakali adventures neither of them can remember. If they're going to have any chance of making it back in time for Raissa's flight, they have to retrace their steps and find the key.

...what makes Forgotten Island so successful as a comedy is that the writing and animation are in lock-step.

There's so much in play from this point on that there's no use in trying to recount it all here. The film is chock-full of creatures from Filipino folklore all cohabiting Nakali, and as someone who has hardly seen this mythology represented on screen, not knowing what could be coming next is part of the joy. Even without any familiarity, though, it's clear they're being shown to us in a fun-house mirror, distorted for maximum comedic impact. Franco is Forgotten Island's stealth MVP, nailing laugh line after laugh line while also building out a resonant character, but Manny Jacinto, Ronny Chieng, and Kevin McCann all provide welcome comedic color as Jo and Raissa (re-)explore the island.

Forgotten Island's One Weak Spot Will Fade With Time

Jo and Raissa sitting together on their crashed van as the sun sets in Forgotten Island

The script is genuinely funny, but what makes Forgotten Island so successful as a comedy is that the writing and animation are in lock-step. This film is overflowing with visual creativity; rules for character design and physics exist solely to be broken over and over again in delightfully ridiculous ways. In truth, there's far too much here to process in one viewing, but the point isn't to absorb every single moment – it's to be swept up in the manic energy they create in unison.

Those coming to this movie hoping for a heartfelt narrative about two best friends will find some of that, but perhaps less than they were expecting. The tension rising between Raissa, who is desperate to leave the island and start her new life, and Jo, who may even wish she could stay forever, is a consistent throughline connecting all the episodic silliness. The childhood prologue is well-handled, but the moving, showstopping sequence near the end, while great, is perhaps not entirely earned. If Forgotten Island lags behind the absolute best films of this burgeoning new era, it's only because Crawford and Mercado don't tap into the emotional core at their disposal as fully as they could have.

Even so, for those on board with the style of comedy on offer here, it doesn't take long to settle in, let go of expectations, and appreciate this movie for what it is. Seek out the stunning animation on the big screen, share the laughter with a crowd, and try and work out which of these characters you'll be for Halloween this year as you leave the theater.

Forgotten Island releases in theaters on Friday, September 25.