The Forest, film review: A murky and unsatisfying horror movie

(15) Jason Zada, 93 mins. Starring: Natalie Dormer, Eoin Macken, Stephanie Vogt

Natalie Dormer as Sara in ‘The Forest’ (Icon Film)

The real-life Aokigahara "suicide" forest under Mount Fuji in Japan is proving a lethal zone for film-makers. It was here that Gus van Sant ventured unwisely for last year's The Sea of Trees, receiving some of the worst reviews of his career in the process, and the forest is also the setting for this murky and unsatisfying horror movie. Sara (Natalie Dormer from Game of Thrones), a young married woman, travels to Aokigahara in pursuit of her identical twin sister, Jess, who has gone missing in the woods.

Sara discovers her sister's tent and washing – a sign, perhaps, that Jess hasn't killed herself. However, ignoring the advice of her guide and of her new friend, opportunist expat journalist Aiden (Taylor Kinney), she decides to spend the night in the forest. Cue the predictable phantasmagoric visions. As verminous insects appear under her skin, she cuts at her wrists to try to scrape them off. The usual trials by ghouls, creepy-crawlies and tormenting visions relating to her childhood occur.

The storytelling is very perfunctory. Some of the shock tactics are moderately effective but, as the film-makers attempt to combine traditional horror movie elements with insights into the troubled psychology of their heroine, they soon lose their way.