Forgotten Island Movie Review 2026: Release Date, Cast, and What Audiences Are Saying
Let me be upfront: I’m tired of animated movies that feel like they came off an assembly line. Another sequel, another spin-off, another talking animal with a celebrity voice and a fart joke every ninety seconds. So when DreamWorks put out an original story for its milestone 50th feature, built on Philippine folklore, with a memory-erasing island as the central threat, I sat up straight.
Forgotten Island opens in U.S. theaters on Friday, September 25, 2026, with preview screenings on the 24th. It runs 109 minutes and is rated PG. I haven’t seen the finished film yet, so this is a pre-release read: the footage, the festival buzz, the cast, and my gut. Here’s where I’m excited and where I’m holding my breath.
The Premise That Got Me
It’s the 1990s. Two best friends, Jo (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano), have just graduated high school in the Philippines. Raissa is about to leave for CalTech. On their last night together, they find a portal and fall into Nakali, an island crawling with creatures from Filipino legend.
Then comes the hook. Nakali slowly eats the memories of everyone stuck there. The portal home works, but the toll is brutal: walk through it and you forget everything you ever shared with each other.
That’s a real dilemma, and it’s what I’d call a grown-up premise inside a family movie. Most kids’ films threaten a city or the world. This one threatens two people’s shared history. Anyone who has watched a best friend drift away after graduation, a move, or a new job will feel that in their stomach. I suspect the parents in the audience will be sniffling more than the kids.
Of course there’s a sidekick. Dave Franco voices Raww, a well-meaning, hopelessly clueless weredog who tags along on the escape attempt. I’m cautiously optimistic here. Franco has the right kind of dopey warmth, but hapless-sidekick comedy is the easiest thing in animation to overdo. If Raww gets ten jokes too many, I’ll notice.
The Cast Is the Real Flex
I’ll say what plenty of people are thinking: the casting is a big deal. This is a Filipino and Filipino-American voice cast, and it shows on paper.
| Character | Voice | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Jo | H.E.R. | Her big animated voice debut, and the music is her turf |
| Raissa | Liza Soberano | A huge name in Filipino entertainment leading a Hollywood animated feature |
| Raww | Dave Franco | The comic relief, and the movie’s biggest tonal gamble |
| The Dreaded Manananggal | Lea Salonga | Tony winner and Disney legend playing the scariest thing on the island |
| Supporting | Manny Jacinto, Jenny Slate, Ronny Chieng | A stacked ensemble |
| Extras | Dolly de Leon, Jo Koy | Cameos that add flavor |
That Lea Salonga casting made me grin. She’s a voice that defined a generation of animated princesses, and now she’s the monster. Casting the woman we associate with heroines as the terrifying creature that splits in half and flies at night is either genius or a cheeky in-joke, and I’m taking it as both.
Finally, Real Philippine Mythology
This is where I get properly excited. Hollywood loves “inspired by” folklore, meaning the myth gets sanded down until it looks like something from a European fairy tale. From what’s been shown, Forgotten Island doesn’t do that. The creatures stay recognizably themselves:
- The Manananggal is the main threat: a vampiric creature that detaches its upper body, grows huge bat wings, and hunts in the dark. It’s been tuned for PG, but the reports say it keeps its bite.
- The Kapre is a giant tree-dwelling being, apparently stylized for the island’s ecosystem.
- The Tikbalang is the half-human, half-horse guardian of the wilds.
If you grew up on these stories, seeing them in a big-budget animated feature is a huge deal. If you didn’t, this may be your first introduction, and it’s a better one than a Wikipedia rabbit hole. Nakali is described as a whole ecosystem rather than a monster-of-the-week parade, and that’s the difference between a world and a backdrop.
How It Looks and Sounds
DreamWorks has been on a stylistic tear since Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and The Wild Robot, and Forgotten Island pushes further. The film reportedly layers 2D hand-drawn textures over 3D environments, mixing 90s-era visual touches with anime influences. Neon colors, punchy action framing, a slightly graphic-novel bite. I love this direction. Studios spent years chasing photoreal fur and water while forgetting that animation is allowed to look drawn.
The music looks strong too. Nathan Matthew David composed the score, and H.E.R. brings original songs. The team also brought in P-pop heavyweights BINI and SB19, whose tracks reportedly drive the chase sequences. That’s smart and unusually current. It treats Filipino pop culture as something alive right now, not a museum piece.
What Critics and Audiences Are Saying
The early word is glowing. The film opened with a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score on its first batch of reviews. I always say that number needs time before you trust it, because early scores are usually friendlier than final ones. Still, the tone of the praise matters more than the percentage: vibrant animation, real emotional weight, and cultural specificity that doesn’t feel like a checklist.
The directors, Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, are the duo behind Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. That’s a big reason I’m leaning in. That film proved they can mix kinetic action with real feeling. Reviewers say the energy carries over but the story is more intimate this time, which is exactly what this premise needs.
Work-in-progress footage also played at CinemaCon and the Annecy Festival, where exhibitors and animation people reportedly responded strongly to the technical ambition.
Fan chatter on Reddit, Letterboxd, and YouTube reaction channels has focused on the memory-loss angle and how it lands with older teens and adults, not just little kids.
Forgotten Island (2026) Movie Trailer, Plot Analysis, and DreamWorks vs Blumhouse Clarification
My Worries
I don’t want to write a pure hype piece, because those are useless. Here’s what could go wrong:
- The second act. A few early voices say the pacing gets frantic, leaving little room to actually live in Nakali. A world this rich deserves quiet moments. If the film sprints through it, the memory-loss theme loses its punch, because you can’t mourn what you haven’t had time to enjoy.
- Comic relief overload. A story about losing your best friend’s memory needs air. If Raww’s antics keep puncturing every emotional beat, the ending won’t earn its tears.
- Expectation inflation. A perfect early score plus “landmark 50th film” branding is a lot to carry. Great movies get flattened by hype all the time.
None of these are dealbreakers. They’re the things I’ll be watching for.
Box Office and Where to Watch
Universal handles distribution, so expect a wide release across AMC, Regal, Cinemark, and independents. Advance sales on Fandango and Atom Tickets are reportedly strong, and trackers point to a healthy opening weekend, helped by a late-September window with basically no animated competition.
My advice: if you can, go IMAX or Dolby Cinema. A film built on layered textures, neon palettes, and a heavy soundtrack is the rare animated feature where the premium ticket earns its price.
Should You Go?
Yes. Here’s how I’m sorting it:
- Animation fans: Go. The look alone justifies a big screen.
- Families with teens: Go. The themes hit older kids harder than younger ones.
- Filipino and Filipino-American viewers: Go, and I’d love to know how it lands for you. You’re the audience whose opinion matters most here.
- Anyone who’s lost touch with a best friend: Bring tissues and don’t say I didn’t warn you.
The finished film has to live up to the buzz, and I’ll be watching for that second act. But right now Forgotten Island is the first DreamWorks release in a long time that made me feel something before I’d even bought a ticket. That’s rare, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
