Review: The Forest

At the base of Mt. Fuji lies the Aokigahara Forest aka The Suicide Forest. As you can probably guess it was given this nickname due to the high number of suicides that have occurred there over the years as it has become something of a destination for those with thoughts of ending their lives. The forest is said to have a long history of association with demons via Japanese mythology and others have claimed it is simply haunted. That little bit of info should give you an idea of the starting point for the basis of star Natalie Dormer's new horror/psychological thriller, The Forest.

The Forest tells the story of twin sisters Sara and Jess Price (both played by Dormer) who share a special bond and are able to "feel" each others presence and general state of well being. When Sara awakens one night after sensing Jess may be in trouble, a feeling that is elevated when she cannot reach her sister who has moved to Japan to pursue her teaching career, Sara does what any good sister would do and hops on the next flight to investigate.

Does this setup sound familiar to you? If so there is a reason behind that, it is very reminiscent of another Japan set tale, 2004's The Grudge.  While The Grudge was more of a straight forward ghost story about little Asian kids and hair monsters The Forest luckily ends up focusing more on ones personal ghosts. While the film still dabbles in the supernatural, it at it's core is more about human fears and sadness.

The Forest for me is a very mixed bag, there is good and bad here, but as a whole it feels as if  the bad outweighs it and doesn't quite get to the level I had hoped. On the positive side, The Forest is a very good looking film, I enjoyed the cinematography, particularly during Sara's "lost in translation" moments while exploring Japan. Director Jason Zada has some really nice shot compositions and it carries on through the rest of the film. Natalie Dormer's performance is the highlight here, as she really does bring the emotion necessary to the role, you do care about her plight and you do buy her love and concern for her missing sister.

Being that The Forest is a horror film, the main question many of you will be asking is "Is it scary?"
Well that depends on the viewer, there were quite a few audience members in our screening that seemed into it, however to a more seasoned horror fan, The satisfaction is few and far between and the reliance on predictable jump scares is cheap. There are a few sequences I found effective and wish there were more of those throughout, but the film definitely is more focused on it's characters internal struggle with her own emotions such as guilt, sadness, childhood trauma and how those can be horrific in their own right particularly when the titular forest brings those to the surface for those who enter.

I was initially intrigued by the film based on it's setting and premise, however I was a bit apprehensive as well because of the vibe I got that reminded me of those early 2000 horror films, such as the aforementioned The Grudge where they look nice, have a good atmosphere yet they just don't go anywhere. Unfortunately while The Forest has a lot of promise with it's strong lead performance and ideal setting, it fails to capitalize and commit on this promise and concept to make it a fully effective horror film. I feel that it may have worked better as a straight up drama about a woman looking for her sister if it isn't willing to relish in being a true horror film. It felt as if it wanted to walk the line for fear of becoming one or the other. I don't doubt some of the general audiences may enjoy it but for me it's a missed opportunity to do something special. The Forest is not a bad film, it's just rather bland.