The Forgotten

  • Review Date: July 19, 2005
  • PG-13
  • Genre: Thriller
  • 2004
 Review

Common Sense Media says

Creepy thriller not for faint of heart.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this movie has frequent tense scenes with characters in peril and some startling surprises. The plot concerns the death of six children, and other characters are injured and apparently killed. There are brief frightening images and a few bad words. A character abuses alcohol.

  • Strong female and minority characters.
  • A lot of tension and peril and some jump-out-at-you surprises, brief grisly images.
  • Not applicable.

What's the story?

In THE FORGOTTEN, Telly (Julianne Moore) mourns her son Sam, who died along with five other children on a plane to summer camp fourteen months before. Her therapist, Dr. Munce (Gary Sinise), that she still spends time every day going through Sam's dresser drawer, watching him in home movies on video, looking at him in photographs. Dr. Munce tells her that it's just "memory, doing its job." While Telly's memory is failing her when it comes to everyday issues, she thinks of Sam every minute. Dr. Munce tells her that "sometimes the mind needs help in letting a thing go." But Telly does not want help. Then, her husband Jim (Anthony Edwards) tells her something shocking. There never was a Sam. Telly has been mentally ill, suffering from "paramnesia" since her miscarriage. Jim and Dr. Munce have been trying to lead her gradually back to reality. All external evidence of Sam has disappeared and no one remembers him. Who should Telly believe? She trusts her husband and doctor. But somehow she believes what she remembers, even though it seems to make no sense.


Is it any good?

 

The Forgotten does a pretty good job of creating the atmosphere early on, keeping us as unbalanced and unsure of what to believe as Telly is. But then the plot goes off in a direction that is so nutty, even by movie standards, that it is just plain silly, leaving so many holes that it knocks us out of that nice creepy atmosphere and into oh-come-off-it-land. It feels like the screenwriters had no idea where to go and so just randomly spun the wheel of movie genres to pick an ending. They should have spun again.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about how we know whether our memories are accurate. What can we do to make sure we remember the things that are important to us?


This review was written by Nell Minow
Adult
April 9, 2008
 

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Teen, 14 years old
March 20, 2011
 

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Ok
This movie was ok. It needs a new ending

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 

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Teen, 17 years old
April 9, 2008
 

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Teen, 17 years old
April 9, 2008
 
loved it!
i watched this a few years ago. and i now own it. this movie is SOOOOOOOOOO good! i love love love love love it! it has a great plot twist at the end and it is awesome! /sex/ none. in extended the 2 main characters make out while laying on bed. /violence/ characters randomly look like they jumped onto a superpowered springboard and fly away like airplanes launched off of a rocket launchpad /language/ some brief language such as hell, s--t, D**n, and i think 1 or 2 b---hes. great movie! i reccomend to 10+

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Kid, 13 years old
October 8, 2011
 
ok movie
this movie is ok, there really isnt any swearing or sex, and isnt gorey at all. it isnt very scary though

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Adult
September 7, 2011
 
Good movie
Interesting story, lots of jumpy parts. The overall language wasn't bad, although they did throw in the F bomb which made me mad. There's one scene of Julianne Moore getting ready for bed and shows her in her underwear, other than that no sexuality or anything. It was good, worth seeing at least once.

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Teen, 14 years old
September 11, 2010
 
very creepy
this movie is very creepy and thrilling.

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This review was written by Nell Minow
Studio:Columbia Tristar
Director:Joseph Ruben
Cast:Anthony Edwards, Gary Sinise, Julianne Moore
Genre:Thriller
Run time:90 minutes
Theatrical release date:September 24, 2004
DVD release date:January 18, 2005
MPAA rating:PG-13
MPAA explanation:intense thematic material, some violence and brief language

This review was written by Nell Minow
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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