The Forest of the Lost Souls

The Forest of the Lost Souls
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJosé Pedro Lopes
Written byJosé Pedro Lopes
Produced by
  • Ana Almeida
Starring
  • Daniela Love
  • Jorge Mota
  • Mafalda Banquart
  • Ligia Roque
  • Lília Lopes
CinematographyFrancisco Lobo
Edited byAna Almeida
Music byEmanuel Grácio
Production
companies
  • Anexo 82
  • Studio 2203
  • Creatura
  • Agente a Norte
Distributed byAnexo 82
Wild Eye Releasing[2]
Release dates
  • February 26, 2017 (2017-02-26) (Fantasporto)[1]
  • February 26, 2017 (2017-02-26) (Portugal)
Running time
71 minutes[3]
CountryPortugal
LanguagePortuguese

The Forest of the Lost Souls (Portuguese: A Floresta das Almas Perdidas) is a 2017 Portuguese slasher drama[4] film directed by José Pedro Lopes. Described as a "coming of age slasher movie", the film had its world premiere at the Director's Week of the Fantasporto Film Festival 2017.[5]

The titular forest is a fictional place between Portugal and Spain, an infamous suicide spot. One morning two complete strangers with their own demons to bear meet within the woods.[6]

Plot

Ricardo and Carolina are complete strangers that meet seemingly by chance in the "Forest of Lost Souls", a place where many people go to commit suicide. These two, a young woman and an old man, are no different from the others, as they came to the forest for this very reason. They decide to briefly postpone killing themselves in order to explore the forest and also to continue talking to one another, as Ricardo and Carolina find themselves intrigued by one another. However as they go further into the forest it becomes clear that one of the pair has other reasons for being in the forest and is not who they would have the other believe them to be and is actually a psycho killer.

Cast

  • Daniela Love as Carolina
  • Jorge Mota as Ricardo
  • Mafalda Banquart as Filipa
  • Ligia Roque as Joana
  • Lília Lopes as Irene
  • Tiago Jácome as Tiago

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, The Forest of the Lost Souls holds an approval rating of 75%, based on 16 reviews, and an average rating of 7/10.[7] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "Generally favorable reviews".[8]

Screen Anarchy described the film as "Arthouse meets the Grindhouse".[9] Variety wrote "...the black-and-white stalker drama “The Forest of Lost Souls” is a nasty and impressive little thriller that goes about its business with ruthless cinematic efficiency."[10]

The Los Angeles Times wrote "“The Forest of the Lost Souls” is a bit of a puzzle, which some viewers might find too much trouble to solve — especially given that in the middle it becomes shockingly violent. But the black-and-white images are lovely to look at, and whatever’s true or untrue about the characters, they’re all clearly alienated."[2]

References

  1. ^ Expresso, Diário (February 26, 2017). "Fantasporto traz "A Idade das Sombras" numa edição mais cor de rosa". Expresso. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Murray, Noel (August 1, 2018). "Review: The haunting 'Forest of Lost Souls' takes unexpected turns". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ "A FLORESTA DAS ALMAS PERDIDAS (16)". ICA. February 26, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  4. ^ Mack, Andrew (January 24, 2017). "THE FOREST OF LOST SOULS: Check Out The Haunting And Beautiful Trailer For Portuguese Horror Flick". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  5. ^ Comercial, Radio (February 4, 2017). "Fantas arranca hoje com filmes de 35 países". Rádio Comercial.
  6. ^ Roberts, Haley (January 1, 2017). "A Floresta das Almas Perdidas". Hayley's Horror Reviews.
  7. ^ "The Forest of the Lost Souls (A Floresta das Almas Perdidas) (2018) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.com. Flixster. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  8. ^ "The Forest of Lost Souls reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  9. ^ Mack, Andrew (February 27, 2017). "Fantasporto 2017 Review: THE FOREST OF LOST SOULS". Screen Anarchy. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  10. ^ Correl, Eddie (July 27, 2017). "Film Review: 'The Forest of Lost Souls'". Variety. Retrieved March 4, 2017.