Modern horror films are infamous for their flawed storylines and reliance on jump scares to get your skin crawling. The Forest not only fell into this pitfall, but also insensitively depicted a historical and meaningful landmark as a hoax.
Set in the Aokigahara Forest, which is located at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan, Sara Price, played by Natalie Dormer, goes on a rescue mission to save her sister Jess Price, also played by Natalie Dormer, who had wandered into the forest and has yet to return. She is aided by Aiden, a local reporter played by Taylor Kinney, and Rob, an Aokigahara Forest guide, played by Eoin Macken. The twist that makes this movie so “unique” is that the Aokigahara Forest is known in Japan as the suicide forest, both in real life and this fictional rendition, because it is a common destination for those contemplating suicide.
Simply speaking about the progression of plot, the director ineffectively switched between real life and hallucinations, a common side effect of entering the forest. For viewers not intently watching every detail, sometimes it can become difficult to understand what is real and what is fake. But there’s only so much you can expect out of a movie that spends 45 minutes of screen time on people lost in a forest. Overall it seems like film director Jason Zada used unnecessary filler to try and build suspense within the audience and ultimately failed
The story wasn’t even saved by strong character roles. Whether it was to cut the budget or an attempt to showcase Natalie Dormer’s acting talent, having her play a set of twins failed to have a resounding impact. The only significant difference between the two is that Jess unluckily witnessed her father killing himself and his wife while Sara did not, leaving Jess broken and distraught over this tragedy. It did not leave much room for Dormer to develop either character, which may have contributed to the already lacking storyline.
Dormer’s dual role wasn’t the only character pitfall that caused problems. Many of the other relationships were under-developed. Sara’s husband has only two minutes of screen time, and somehow you’re supposed to decide whether Aiden is a good guy or bad guy when all of his dialogue is solely catered to wooing Sara.
But the largest pitfall of all is the illicit use of the Aokigahara Forest as a backdrop for gags and demon faces. The Aokigahara Forest is a location of tragic loss but is tossed around like a psychological joke, making it appear the mass amounts of deaths allocated to this historic landmark is due to supernatural causes messing with your wavering mental stability.
If you’re really interested in this historical forest, you would be better off watching a documentary that won’t assault you with unnecessary gags and ghosts.