Natalie Dormer has recently starred in The Forest–a supernatural horror film–as Sara and Jessica Price.

It takes place in Japan, in The Aokigahara Forest, which is known as the location where people go to commit suicide.  It is also believed that the forest can make you “see things” that aren’t really there.

Jess has been living in Japan, teacher students there how to speak English. One day Sara is notified that her twin sister Jess was last seen going to the forest to kill herself. Despite what Sara’s been told, her gut feeling knows that something is wrong with her and she’s still out there, alive. Sara flies out to Japan and is determined to find Jess.  She ends up meeting a man named Aiden (Taylor Kinney) who offers to take her out to the forest on a chaperoned trip with a guide named Michi he was going on the next day, on one condition: Sara has to agree to letting him write an article about her and her quest to find her sister.  

They venture into the forest in daylight, with no luck finding Jess.  As dusk starting creeping in, they found a tent that belonged to Jess.  Michi and Aiden attempted to persuade Sara to begin heading out of the forest since nightfall was approaching and by the time they got back it would be dark.  With the hope of her sister’s tent and belongings camped out in Aokigahara, Sara stubbornly refused to leave the forest and return again the next day as the sun set. Aiden felt obligated to stay with her to protect her, but he may have had ulterior motives.  

Will Sara be reunited with her sister or will she go insane as she explores the suicide forest in search of her twin? The mystery that that question has is more exciting than the movie itself.

The Forest did not include an intriguing plot, characters, or any frightening pop up scare scenes. Everything “suspenseful” in the movie was already revealed prior–in the trailer. It didn’t keep the audience guessing and on their feet.  The movie lacked excitement and overall was a uninvolving and tedious film.