The Forgotten (2004)
This could be a case for Mulder and Scully...

The Forgotten is a suspense-filled tale of duplicity and manipulation, chronicling the seemingly deteriorating mental state of a distraught mother following the death of her beloved son Sam. Telly Paretta, played expertly by Julianne Moore, is obsessed with the plane crash that claim 6 children's lives, her son's included, when his very existence begins to evaporate around her. Her therapist tells her the boy was a figment of her imagination sparked by a miscarriage, her husband insists their family photos were only ever of the two of them and her friends have no memory of ever meeting him.

So far, so spooky. Telly is adamant that there's a conspiracy afoot, but (amazingly) no one believes her. Befriending Ash, the father of another child killed on the plane who has no memory of his daughter, she manages to literally uncover the child's wallpaper in his study and his memory begins to return, but not before the National Security Agency try and cart her off to the loony bin. On the run and with the hesitant help of Ash she discovers a paranormal conspiracy which has been hidden from society for years.

The film is physically very dark and the tone and action, even in the inevitable chase scenes, is fairly subdued, but a reasonable tension is maintained without any over reliance on cliched "jump" shots. The pace is also fairly sedate, and this does begin to erode the sense of confusion and paranoia as you begin to get frustrated with the plot. Without wishing to destroy the latter stages of the plot completely, the final revelation of what has been going on is somewhat pointless and ill-explained. The film also suffers from traditional Hollywood values in having an inexplicable and undeserved "happy ending" when it desperately longs for something darker and more meaty.

None of the film's faults can be laid at the foot of the actors involved, all of whom deliver nuanced performances to the best that the script will allow. The dialogue isn't terrible either, it's just the gaping plot holes and questionable directorial choices that spoil a fairly intriguing premise. Fingers should and must be pointed at the writer and director, especially in the light of their awful DVD commentary. When the writer uses the phrase (regarding Telly's character) "she's the only rememberer", you begin to suspect their mastery of the English language perhaps isn't all that it might be. The inclusion of an "alternate ending" that's slightly better (but not hugely) also would normally have included an optional commentary detailing why they chose the other ending, but here you're left to hypothesise on your own.

Plus points? The score by James Horner is appropriate and interesting, without being intrusive. The special effects, though sparingly used, are well done, though the film is so dark at times it's hard to tell. It's certainly worth watching just for the performance by Julianne Moore, as well as the creepy performance by Linus Roache as the shadowy figure behind it all. Overall, if you can forgive the inappropriate ending and plot discrepancies, there's some reasonable work here. I'd just cut your losses about five minutes from the end and go and make a cup of tea instead.

Score 6/10

© Barny Russell 2005