Not Forgotten

In Del Rio, in the border of Texas and Mexico, the female teen-soccer coach Jack Bishop (Simon Baker) is very popular and he loves his eleven year-old daughter Toby (Chloe Moretz) and her stepmother Amaya (Paz Vegas). When Toby is kidnapped, Amaya's cousin, the rookie Sheriff Casper Navarro (Michael DeLorenzo), is in charge of the investigation, but sooner the FBI arrives in town to lead the hunt. However, Navarro and Jack travel to Mexico following a lead and the hidden past of Jack returns to haunt him.

"Not Forgotten" is an intriguing thriller that uses the mysticism of the Mexican cult "La Santa Muerte" and has a promising beginning. The cast has names like Paz Vega and Simon Baker in the lead roles and Claire Forlani with a minor participation. Unfortunately the resolution of the original story is simply awful and messy, wasting all the potentiality of the plot with a terrible conclusion. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Regresso do Além" ("Return From Beyond")

Jack Bishop (Simon Baker, "Land of the Dead") is your typical American. A beautiful wife and daughter, nice home, coach of the soccer team. But things go horribly awry one day when his daughter Toby (young horror veteran Chloe Moretz) goes missing... has she been brought across the border to become a prostitute? Or is she the victim of a known sex offender? Jack will stop at nothing to find out, even if he must reveal his own secret past.

I had little familiarity with the people who made this film, beyond Chloe Moretz, who has been the girl in more or less ever horror film for five years -- and I'm not complaining. Paz Vega played a strong lead, although the rumor is she replaced Jordana Brewster, a friend of Killer Reviews. With all due respect to Brewster, I think Vega was the right casting choice -- she had the elegance, the versatility and the pluck to be the multi-faceted character she needed to be. Rounding out the notable cast is Claire Forlani ("Mallrats"), with a far too small role as the prostitute Katie.

Simon Baker, who was not known to be (I have not seen TV's "The Mentalist"), was a commanding lead in every sense of the word. A devoted father, mysterious possible suspect, heroic ex-thug. I felt he was a natural for every position he was put into. As the plot twists and turns (which is really another strength of this film -- I had to keep guessing) he is able to roll with it and make every thing believable.

Horror fans will enjoy this film, though it's not horror in any strict sense. It's a dark mystery thriller, with a cult, some epic violence -- one of the most brutal beatings I have ever seen on film -- and some creepy imagery. I was visually seduced. There's also some decent action and suspense... not too much romance (sorry, ladies) and a spattering of humor, but only just the bare minimum, keeping the film tense and taut.

I found the film to have an interesting social and political commentary, though I don't feel it was intentional. Over the last several years, there have been a few horror films with a Mexican flavor, such as "All Soul's Day" and "The Dead One". By and large, these were failures. "Not Forgotten" has a strong American/Mexican theme, with border crossings and international crime being a key undercurrent. How accurate these are, I do not know -- I live in Wisconsin where we see more Canadians than Mexicans. But the way the border was portrayed struck me as fascinating and believable, as well as timely in a culture where fear of immigrants comes to a head again and again. This film portrayed Mexicans as both heroes and as ruthless killers, not stereotyping them one way or another, and I found that to be very honest.

"Not Forgotten" is a straight-to-DVD release, but don't let that fool you into thinking it's less than great. Even with my sporadically short attention span (I often require friends and/or booze to get through a film in one sitting) I could not remove my eyes from this movie. A pure win from beginning to the amazing twist at the end. Could a prequel or sequel be in the works?

I just saw a pre-screening of Not Forgotten and was blown away! This is one of the best movies I have seen in a very long time. It had more twists and turns than a Texas tornado! Dror Soref is a genius- he kidnaps your senses and emotions from the very beginning of the movie and holds them hostage till the very end. The music, by Mark Isham, is haunting and dark. It draws you in even more keeping you in constant suspense. Simon Baker and Paz Vega are excellent- great performances by both. Claire Forlani also does an incredible job- she needs to be listed under the IMDb cast list! This movie keeps you guessing- it one one twist after another. The ending is a real shocker- you definitely don't see it coming! Not Forgotten is fantastic! Everyone has to see it! I want to see it again.

I saw the preview for Not Forgotten and thought it was really good. I would really suggest seeing it.

As far as thrillers go, I thought this one was very different, very original. From the very opening shot, I was completely drawn in. There's a great mix of action and suspense, and the scene in the bathroom with the beer bottle is spectacular!! It was incredibly intense.

As far as movies to compare it to, I would say "The Forgotten" mixed with "The Missing." One of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Definitely see it if you get a chance!

I thought Not Forgotten had a very cleverly crafted story. It didn't just rely on scary music to keep you in suspense; rather the story with its dark, creepy rituals (I don't want to give it away!!) made me more nervous and scared than anything. Paz Vega and Simon Baker both gave excellent performances (in addition to being extremely pleasing on the eyes… ladies, there are a couple of scenes with Simon Baker without a shirt—don't say I didn't warn you! And I'm sure the guys would agree with me that Paz Vega has never looked better).

The end has a really surprising twist. If the rumors about a sequel are true, then count me in. I would love to see part II!