The Forest

When this movie was released in theaters, there was a huge backlash against it. A lot of charges were leveled that it sanitized the seriousness of suicide in Japan and made light of a very dark situation. I thought these charges were largely foolish, as this was meant to be a simple thriller and not a serious drama/horror film about suicide. But I've got to say after watching it that I really wish the filmmakers has gone a more serious route. This had the potential to be a serious and impactful psychological horror film that explores suicide in all its complexities, but instead threw all it potential away for a few cat scares. Which is sad, because the bones of a real film were here just waiting to be found. Sadly, all that remains is a bland, boring, vapid movie about nothing at all. Such a waste. 2/5

The Forest on Netflix