Psycho's Movie Reviews #284: The Forgotten (2004)

The Forgotten is a 2004 American science fiction psychological horror thriller film directed by Joseph Ruben and starring Julianne Moore, Dominic West, Gary Sinise, Alfre Woodard, Linus Roache, and Anthony Edwards. The film's plot revolves around a woman who believes that she lost her son in a plane crash 14 months earlier, only to wake up one morning and be told that she never had a son. All of her memories are intact, but with no physical evidence that contradicts the claims of her husband and her psychiatrist, and she sets out in search for solid evidence of her son's existence.

The Forgotten was produced by Revolution Studios for Columbia Pictures and was released in the United States and Canada on September 24, 2004.

Plot

Telly Paretta (Julianne Moore) grieves the loss of her son, Sam (Christopher Kovaleski), who died 14 months prior in a plane crash. She holds regular vigils in his undisturbed bedroom, visits his grave, and meets with a support group for parents who lost their children to accidents, though her husband, Jim (Anthony Edwards), wants to move on. Returning from work one afternoon, Telly finds Sam's room completely empty of his things and redecorated with new furniture. Furious, she confronts Jim for trying to forget, but her husband Jim shocks her with a counter accusation: That she is, in actuality, delusional and that they have never had a son.

Hurt, Telly begins reaching out to acquaintances to confirm Sam's existence; however, her friend Eliot (Jessica Hecht) doesn't appear to believe in Sam's existence despite her closeness to him. Looking for concrete evidence, she visits Dr. Munce (Gary Sinise), her OB/GYN; he confirms that she was pregnant, but that she miscarried and "Sam" is her delusional fantasy about how her life would have been different if he had lived. He recommends that she be sent to a hospital, but she runs away.

Fleeing and still adamant that Sam is real, she locates Ash (Dominic West), a member of the support group, whose daughter Lauren (Kathryn Faughnan), was Sam's friend and died in the same crash. However, he also dismisses her and claims he never had a daughter, and calls the police. Shaken by Telly's certainty, he explores his house, discovering Lauren's old room covered up by new paint and wallpaper; in a rush, he remembers his daughter and losing her. Chasing after Telly, he rescues her from the police and they go into hiding, pursued by National Security agents. On the run, they speculate about who would have the power, resources, and motive to want to make them forget about their children.

Telly and Ash capture and threaten a pursuing agent (Lee Tergesen), who reluctantly reveals that he and other agents are merely helping ″them″ in order to protect humankind. Without warning, the roof of the house blows off and the agent, along with the roof, is sucked into the sky—presumably taken by "them"—and Telly and Ash flee. Eventually, Telly visits Dr. Munce again and he reveals that the disappearances are the work of "them", and that the government monitors their trials, all too aware that they have no power to stop "them" from doing whatever they want.

Munce takes Telly to an airport and the dilapidated hangar of Quest Airlines, where he introduces her to an agent of "them" (Linus Roache). He tells the agent that it's over and to stop the experiment, because it will only cause more harm. But the agent replies that it's not over. He reveals to Telly that she has been a part of an experiment to test whether the bonds between mother and child can be diminished. In her case, her memories could not be fully erased. Telly refuses to deny her son's existence. The agent mentions that if he fails to erase her memory then he will look like a failure. The agent then subdues her and convinces her to think of the first memory she had of Sam. Telly thinks of the day he was born in the hospital, which allows the agent to successfully erase Sam's memory from existence. As the agent is walking away, thinking he's succeeded, Telly's motherly bond kicks in deeper, to before Sam was born, when she was pregnant, triggering her memory that she indeed had life in her at one time. All of her memories of Sam return. Before the agent can comprehend what's happening, part of the hangar roof is suddenly blown off, and he's yanked into the sky himself for his failure to erase her memory. This ends the experiment.

Telly finds herself living a normal life, although she remembers everything that has happened. She reunites with Sam at a park. Also at the park is Ash, watching over his daughter. Like Sam, he has no memory of what has happened. Telly reintroduces herself, and the two sit and watch the kids play in the playground.

Production

Filming

Principal photography mostly took place in New York City.

Release/Reception/Box Office

The film was released theatrically on September 24, 2004.

Critics gave the film generally negative reviews. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 31% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 172 reviews with an average rating of 5/10. The website's critical consensus states that "The premise grows too ridiculous to take seriously". On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 43 out of 100, based on 34 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Roger Ebert gave the film 2 stars out of 4 stating, "The Forgotten is not a good movie, but at least it supplies a credible victim."

The film opened September 24, 2004 in the United States and Canada and grossed $21 million in 3,104 theatres its opening weekend, ranking #1 at the box office.

The film cost $42 million to produce and it eventually grossed $67.1 million in the U.S. and Canada and $50.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross of $117.5 million.

Budget $42 million

Box office $117.6 million

My Review

From the trailer for this movie things looked good (apart from ruining the most impacting moment of the film) and I decided to give it a go. The film is a strange mix because bits of it are so intriguing and gripping but then other bits are rather unsatisfying and it cannot keep the urgent tone up consistently. It is a bit annoying but something about the second half niggles – is it because it is all a bit too neat? Is it because it keeps suggesting bigger things that we never get into? Or is it just because the first half had such a simple and interesting idea that opening it out was never going to be able to match the first half? I'm not sure but the film only sporadically hits the right note and will suddenly (very suddenly) show us how big this thing is and how high the stakes are – but then seconds later we're back into a slower scene that almost feels like a step back. That said, the central premise and the bit of the story we get told is still interesting and the urgent moments are enough to keep it going.

The direction is good; drab colours are an obvious contrast with the bright colours of the memories but generally Ruben helps keep the tension up. The effects are good and they make the "big" moments really surprising and impacting. Moore is convincing throughout and she manages to give her usual high quality. The support cast is cluttered with names, which I assume was meant to be a load of red herrings; most of them are OK but have very little time although a cast including Edwards, Roache, Sinise, Woodard and a few others is probably worth a look.

The Forgotten is a good thriller, which recalls X-Files, but the theatrical conclusion is horrible. I was very disappointed with the last fifteen minutes, but the alternate ending in the DVD is better and better and saves the story. I am suspicious to write about the wonderful Julianne Moore, since I am a great fan of her, but she has another excellent performance. It is amazing how beautiful and talented this actress is. The cinematography is excellent, the effects are sometimes very scary and I enjoyed this movie. I could be better with some improvements in the screenplay, but anyway I recommend it to fans of X-Files.

Overall this is an OK film but not as good as the basic plot summary suggests. A good trailer will have you asking questions and interested before the film comes out, but it needs the film to answer these and still have us feel the same. I enjoyed the film and all, but by the end I was left with none of the intrigue and interest that I had had at the start and it is unlikely I'd ever chose to watch it again. 5.2/10