The Forest

The story is set in the Aokigahara Forest, a forest at the northwest base of Mount Fuji in Japan where people go to commit suicide. Sara Price (also played by Natalie Dormer), a young American woman, arrives at the forest in search of her identical twin sister, who mysteriously disappeared. Despite warnings not to "stray from the path," Sara enters the forest to discover the truth about her sister's fate, only to be confronted by the angry and tormented souls of the dead who now prey on unsuspecting visitors.

The story starts with Sara in a series of short shots, eventually going to her receiving a phone call from the Japanese police telling her that they think her twin sister Jess (also played by Natalie Dormer), is dead, after being seen going into Aokigihara forest. She journeys to Japan, and arrives at the hotel her sister was staying at to inquire about where she was seen last. To her surprise, the receptionist claims they have found her sister and she is there.

Sara follows the woman down to a cellar where bodies found in the woods are kept chilled. However, the body found is not Jess and Sara leaves to check in to her own hotel, but not before being warned by a woman outside the building that Yūrei, restless spirits from Japanese folklore, reside in the forest and warns Sara not to go looking for her sister.

At her hotel, Sara meets an Australian reporter named Aiden (Taylor Kinney). She mistakenly believes he may have met Jess when he uses a pick-up line about having seen her there before. They drink together and share stories about their respective siblings. Sara recounts how her parents died in a "car accident", but the flashback shots as she speaks reveal she is in fact lying and her father killed her mother in a murder suicide. She lingers on the fact that while she closed her eyes and did not see the bodies of her parents, Jess had and that this had always made Jess darker and different. Eventually Aidan invites her to go with him and a park ranger Michi (Yukiyoshi Ozawa) as Michi makes his rounds through the forest on the condition she let him write her story into the piece he is already there to report on. Sara agrees.

The next day Sara meets Michi and Aidan before they head out, with Michi giving her a clear warning that he believes most likely Jess has killed herself. Sara assures him that she has a strong bond with her sister and would know if she were dead. He claims the forest makes people "sad" and makes you see all the bad things you keep locked up in your mind. He warns Sara he does not think she should go with them into the forest because she herself seems sad. Sara refuses to be diswayed and the three venture into the forest.

It becomes clear while they walk through the forest that Sara is deeply affected. She has moments where she stares blankly off and becomes unresponsive to the calling of her name. Frequently, she hears a sound much like a strangled scream as they walk through the paths. At one point Aiden asks Sara if Jess had ever tried to commit suicide before. Sara confirms she had tried twice in the past and both times she felt their bond disappear which warned her of her sister's life being in danger. She believes Jess thinks suicide as "romantic" quoting her sister's favorite poem, which Aiden finishes. Sara is surprised he knows it and grows slightly suspicious over whether Aiden truly did not meet Jess.

They come across one man with a tent and Michi approaches him alone to try and talk him out of suicide. He states how most who bring a tent, are uncertain about committing to the act and can be persuaded to return home. After walking on further, Sara feels a strange pull to follow down a different path way. The three venture down to find a yellow tent that Sara ecstatically recognizes as belonging to Jess.

Though Jess is not there, it is clear the campsite is not abandoned. Clothes are hung on a clothesline drying and there is a recently used fire pit. With nightfall coming, Michi suggests they leave a note for Jess and return to the path and exit the forest immediately. Sara refuses, stating that Jess could return at any moment to sleep and that she will stay alone if need be. Aiden agrees to remain with Sara and Michi reluctantly leaves them with the promise he will return as soon as possible the next morning.

That night, Aiden and Sara build a fire and share more stories about their siblings. Aiden talks about how his younger brother often got into fights, one such fight leaving him deaf in one ear. Aiden always held onto a huge amount of guilt for not stepping in, which Sara sympathizes with. She feels a similar guilt that Jess had to suffer all these years alone with the image of their parents in her mind, without Sara to share it with. They share a particular energy bar Aiden brings along on hiking trips and not long after go to sleep, with Aiden outside and Sara in her sister's tent. He stares blankly at her silhoutte through the tent before she shuts off the light and he closes his eyes.

Sara is awoken by nightmares. Outside the tent Aiden is sleeping and nothing seems to be amiss. Sara hears someone rustling through the bushes and believing it may be Jess, rushes into the dark woods after them. She comes across a horrified young Japanese girl (Rina Takasaki) in a sailor uniform who knows Sara's name. The girl claims she met Jess while in the forest and warns Sara not to trust Aiden. At that moment, Aiden calls out to Sara and the girl runs away in terror. Sara attempts to chase after her but falls and severely cuts open her palm on a fallen tree.

Aiden insists they begin the journey back towards the path withtout waiting for Michi as Sara is in need of stitches. He believes if they tell the authorities about the teenage girl Sara saw, they will be more willing to send search parties out and might find Jess too. Aiden suggest that by just "going back straight how they came" they will be fine. It becomes evident however as they walk that they are lost. Upon arriving at a river, Aiden suggests they simply follow it downstream-- but then begins to lead Sara back the way they came. She questions this, to which he rationalizes they just have to back track some to start going downhill. Sara is left with a deep feeling of unease.

pai din moment ce l-am postat
normal ca a aparut