THE FOREST ~ Rated PG-13

THE FOREST – Rated PG-13

“You cannot stay after dark”… “I’m not leaving without my sister.”

 Set in the real-life Aokigahara Forest of Japan ~ otherwise known as THE SUICIDE FOREST ~ we meet twin sister Sara (Natalie Dormer), who has arrived in Japan to search for her missing twin Jess, (also Natalie Dormer) as she has apparently vanished somewhere in THE FORBIDDEN FOREST…

Even though every native she comes in contact with shy’s away from assisting her with entry into this demonic place, Sara is hell bent on finding her sister and bringing her home…

When a chance meeting brings Sara finally face-to-face with a fellow American named Aiden (Taylor Kinney), it seems that he has gone on expedition before into this God Forsaken place, and he knows just who to hire as a guide to take Sara in…With a tour guide in place, and Aiden by her side, Sara finds that the tales of what lies within the forest may just be true…as she must face the demons within her mind, and within the trees too…

I give THE FOREST a rating of WAIT AND CATCH THIS ONE ON STREAMING OR NETFLIX: Intrigued by the story line of this film being set in the REAL FORBIDDEN FOREST of JAPAN, although apprehensive about it being a HORROR FLICK ~ as I am not particularly fond of this genre of films ~ I was pleasantly surprised to see that THIS HORROR FILM was about as tame as any I can remember viewing in quite some time. Dormer’s performance as twin sisters Sara/Jess was just average, as was Kinney’s performance as well, and nothing else struck me as too memorable along the way either ~ except for the ending ~ which I didn’t see coming, forcing me to give this film a higher rating than I was anticipating, when it was all said and done. It isn’t good, it isn’t bad, it just isn’t much of anything, so I recommend if you want to check out THE FOREST, you do it in the comfort of your very own home, a few months from now, because you happen to have a few hours with nothing better to do…

Kathy Kaiser