The Forest Movie Review (Spoiler Free)

A missing sister in a foreign country, a scary Japanese forest where people go to commit suicide and creepy spectres stalking. What more is there to say?  

Genre: Horror / Mystery

Director: Jason Zada

Cast: Natalie Dormer, Taylor Kinney, Stephanie Vogt, Yukiyoshi Ozawa, Ibuki Kaneda, Rina Takasaki, Yûho Yamashita, Masashi Fujimoto & Eoin Macken.

Run Time: 93 min.

US Release: 08 January 2016

UK Release:  26 February 2016

German Release: 04 February 2016

Granted, The Forest is not the usual US-January release garbage of a horror flick; it offers more than that, and at times it really is engaging, but it also is no more than a mere mediocre spooky tale. One thing that really disappointed me is that it did not get a release in an English-language cinema, which meant that I needed to watch it in German dub, and that might have dampened my experience. Other than that, I did enjoy myself watching this haunted story, which came as a big surprise!

The movie revolves around Sara Price (Dormer), who flies to Tokyo in search of her identical twin sister Jess (Dormer), who was last seen entering the Aokigahara forest and is therefore presumed dead. Sara is sure that her sister is still alive and tries to find a guide who will lead her into the forest to search for her. She meets Australian journalist Aiden (Kinney), who informs her that he has a guide, Michi (Osawa), who is leading him through the Aokigahara for his story. Striking a deal with her, Michi and Aiden take her along the next day to search for Jess.

As I said at the beginning, I was pleasantly surprised when I left the screening room due to several factors. One of them is how director Jason Zada actually manages to build genuine suspense throughout the movie - give or take the last couple of minutes - including a few genuine jump scares. Zada also gets rid of some of the cliches that had been dominating horror films over the past couple of years, turning the genre stale. From a narrative perspective, I appreciated the way this horror flick starts, with Sara flying into Japan while flashbacks are used to tell the story that led her to travel, also setting up a plausible cause, as to why the main character goes into the “Suicide Forest”.

Most astonishing, however, is the fact that the writers and film crew stay true to the facts of Japanese folklore that revolves around this forest. From the ropes wrapped around trees to the warning signs that recommend the visitor to not leave the main path, most of what is shown in this spooky picture is accurate.

Unfortunately, the movie has its fair share of issues. There are dream sequences that serve as jump scares and simply keep coming back; after the third dream, I was tired and bored of it. I also found the second half of the film a little irritating, because even though Sara has a reason to venture into Aokigahara and I understood her desire to stay and not leave without her sister, the fact that she stays in the forest overnight and ignores the guide’s explicit warnings is incredibly dumb of the character. 

The performances are by far the weakest aspect of the movie. The actors give the needed amount of effort for the audience to care for them, or at least for the character of Aiden, but they don’t go beyond that, and it is something that does drag the experience down. In fact, I would even say that some of the best performances are given by the Japanese extras. 

Natalie Dormer’s persona, Sara, is by far the most frustrating and unlikeable one; she is consistently offensive towards people and has a mopey facial expression from start to finish. I have two younger sisters plus two older brothers, and would do anything to bring them back. If one of them were in the situation Jess finds herself in, yet at no time would I risk my life stupidly or insult someone who tried to help! This is what makes Sara so incredibly irritable. 

Taylor Kinney is alright as Aidan; I liked his journalistic approach to the story and do agree that having Sara’s family background in his report about the Aokigahara forest would make for a more intimate article. Sadly, the writers did not deepen his character and what we are left with is a model-like looking journalist who gives off “rape vibes” at times. I believe the role would have been more interesting if he had been fleshed out better.

Visually, the picture looks really nice and suits the horror genre. It has a gloomy and dark atmosphere from beginning to end. Most of it is shot with the use of a steadicam, which makes for very smooth and flowing scenes, unusual for today's horror films. The last five minutes, though, when some of the characters start running through the forest, are filmed using tedious amounts of shaky cam. I also found the last shot, which zoomed into a scary-looking entity, to be the most cliché decision.

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Verdict: Considering everything I just said, The Forest is a mediocre horror flick that is just a tad better than other movies usually released around this period of the year. It has some really nice story elements, facts about the Aokigahara forest and solid cinematography - except for the last scene. Sadly, it fails at creating likeable characters with solid backgrounds. I don’t believe it is a movie that people need to go see in cinemas or buy on Blu-ray/DVD; it is sufficient if you wait for it to be released on Netflix or Amazon - or, if you can, just rent it when it gets out. I will give The Forest a 6.0 out of 10.

Have you seen this horror film yet? If so, let me know what your opinion is by leaving a comment down below. I will proceed with my Batman/Superman reviews this Sunday and upload my analysis for Nolan’s The Dark Knight, so if you are interested, keep an eye out for it. 

Thank you very much for reading & as always, please share this review if you liked it.