Line #71 Film/TheForest2016


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_forest_2016.jpg]]
2	Based on the tragic history of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aokigahara Aokigahara forest]] at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan, Jason Zada's 2016 horror film ''The Forest'' stars Creator/NatalieDormer as [[PlayingTheirOwnTwin identical twins]] Sara and Jess Price, the former of whom goes searching for the latter when she is notified by authorities that her sister has gone missing and is believed to have entered the "suicide forest." Music by Music/BearMcCreary.
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5	!!Tropes:
6	* AngstySurvivingTwin: Or is Sara's case, angsty desperate to find her lost for days twin. [[spoiler:Jess plays this straight in the ending, though.]]
7	* AntagonistTitle: The titular forest is essentially the film's BigBad.
8	* ArcSymbol: Basements are used to symbolize Sara's repressed thoughts, memories, and emotions. [[spoiler:It's also where she dies.]]
9	* ArcWords: "[Don't leave/Stay on] the path".
10	* ArtisticLicenseGeography: In several of the scenes where Sara and the others are in the forest, stock forest noises can be heard. In real life, the density of the forest blocks out most sounds, making it eerily quiet.
11	* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: The marketing claims that the film is BasedOnATrueStory, even though there hasn't even been a story of a white woman dying in Aokigahara under mysterious circumstances. What the filmmakers '''actually''' meant was that they were inspired by a Wikipedia article to make the movie ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer yes really]]).
12	* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Sara, who's only been away from hygiene and beauty products for a little over 36 hours at the end of the film, is certainly an arguable example; [[spoiler: Jess, who's been lost in the forest for 5 days]], is a textbook one.
13	* BittersweetEnding: Sara and Aiden are dead and Michi's fate at the end is uncertain but at least [[spoiler: Jess]] is safe.
14	* BodyHorror: Some of the ghosts, as well as the [[spoiler: maggots in Jess's arm]].
15	* CorpseLand: The forest is packed top-to-bottom with ghosts that look like zombies. That said, the forest's really pretty when they're not around, in stark contrast to the wall-to-wall dead bodies and rotten soil of most depictions of the trope.
16	* CreepyChildrenSinging: The end credits theme features a chorus of Japanese children singing. It's extremely unsettling.
17	* DiggingYourselfDeeper: [[spoiler:When Sara suspects that Aiden is a psycho behind Jess' disappearance, even though Aiden is ultimately innocent, his rather sketchy and aggressive behavior when confronted over it, doesn't do him any favors. Nor does it help that he admits that he was trying to get close to her earlier.]]
18	* DoggedNiceGuy: [[spoiler:Aside from genuinely wanting of help Sara, Aiden soons admits that his IntrepidReporter shtick was largely trying to flirt with her. It's one of the reasons she starts loosing her trust in him.]]
19	* DontGoInTheWoods: Combined with StayOnThePath.
20	* DyingAlone: This is Sara's worse-case scenario regarding Jess in case she fails to find her. [[spoiler:[[DeathByIrony Ironically]], this is what ended up happening to Sara herself.]]
21	* ForeignQueasine: after Sara arrives in Japan, she goes to a sushi restaurant for dinner and gets both parts of a jumbo shrimp cut in half. It's still moving.
22	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
23	** Sara tells a story about her parents dying in a car crash and her sister going outside to look, but it's rather suspicious that the setting of the story features a staircase leading to what is clearly another room. This foreshadows that [[spoiler:her parents actually died in a MurderSuicide]].
24	** A lot of shots focus on Sara's wrists.
25	* FreakOut: Sara goes looking for her identical twin Jess in Japan, and stops by the school where Jess taught. The students, quite predictably, lose their shit at the sight of seeing their "dead teacher" coming back.
26	* GeniusLoci: Characters often speak of the forest itself as being malevolent, not just the spirits who wander it. [[spoiler: Indeed, the sad look one of the ghosts gives Sara before her own spirit is pulled underground may indicate the ghosts are not attacking of their own volition.]]
27	* GoodAllAlong: [[spoiler:Turns out Aiden really had no involvement on Jess' disappearance, even though he tend to act sketchy.]]
28	* HarmfulToMinors: [[spoiler:The twins were there when their father kills their mother in a MurderSuicide.]]
29	* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Sara is unconsciously DrivenToSuicide by the stress of everything that has happened until that point, even including her father's MurderSuicide of her and Jess' mother, [[SanitySlippage taking a toll on her]].]]
30	* HotTeacher: Jess, as played by Creator/NatalieDormer.
31	* IdenticalTwinIDTag: Sara is blonde while Jess is {{raven hair\|IvorySkin}}ed. When they were kids, Sara's hair is much darker but it still has lighter shade compared to Jess'.
32	* IntrepidReporter: Aiden sees Sara looking for her sister in an infamous suicide forest as an opportunity to make an article, even joining her on her search. [[spoiler:He later admits that he was partially just doing this to flirt with Sara, but he was still serious about helping her.]]
33	%%* Myth/JapaneseMythology: The film relies on this, specifically the myth surrounding the titular Aokigahara forest being inhabited by ghosts (or in Japan known as yūrei) and it being an infamous destination for people wanting to commit suicide.
34	* JumpScare: A couple of choice ones early on set the tone, in case you thought you'd wandered into a nature documentary.
35	* LeadYouCanRelateTo: One of the recurring criticisms of the movie is that it takes a real location and sensitive topic in Japan, and finds a way to make it about white Americans.
36	* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The ending, among other things. [[spoiler:Did Sara really get taken by the ghosts? Or did she fall down into an ice cave and die?]]
37	* MeaningfulName:
38	** [[spoiler:The twins' surname is price. Sara goes to Aokigahara in Japan to save her missing sister, which she does at the cost of her own life.]]
39	** Aiden means Son God in Celt. In Irish it means little fire. He's the one in-charge of creating the camp fire.
40	** Michi means guide in Japanese.
41	* MyGreatestFailure:
42	** Sara and Aiden trade stories about their respective low points. It turns out [[spoiler: neither of them were]] being completely honest.
43	** [[spoiler:Sara's death is this for Michi, unfortunately for him, this voids whatever [[OnlyThePureOfHeart protection]] he had from the forest]].
44	* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Oh boy...
45	** [[spoiler:Sara travels half the world to look for her missing sister only to suffer SanitySlippage and eventually die.]]
46	** [[spoiler:Aiden went out of his way to help Sara find her missing sister only for her to suffer SanitySlippage and accuse him of nasty things, culminating with her killing him.]]
47	* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Aiden is supposed to be Australian, but his actor uses his natural accent.
48	* OhCrap: Michi, when he realises [[HereWeGoAgain what's about to happen]] at the end.
49	* OneGenderSchool: Jesse taught in an all-girls school. Even the faculty are all female.
50	* OnlyThePureOfHeart: Seems to be the reason Michi can go into the forest as often as he does; he doesn't really have anything for the forest to exploit. [[spoiler: He certainly does by the end, though]].
51	* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Of the "angry at the living" type. And how.
52	* OutlivingOnesOffspring: The twins were raised by their grandmother after their parents' deaths. Which of them exactly is their grandmother's offspring is never stated.
53	* ThePlace: The titular forest refers to Aokigahara, where majority of the film takes place in.
54	* PromotionToParent: The twins' grandmother became their legal guardian after their parents' deaths.
55	* RaisedByGrandparents: The twins were raised by their grandmother after their parents' deaths.
56	* RescueArc: The film's main premise; TheHero is searching for her missing twin sister in the titular forest.
57	* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:The spirits in the forest have been picking off Sara's mind throughout the movie, particularly with visions of Jess and their past, and push Sara into thinking that Aiden is a kidnapper.]]
58	* SheepInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler:Towards the latter half of the film, it appears that Aiden is not who he appears to be and Sara sees a teen-aged girl claiming to be a student of Jess who tells her to not trust him, and Sara becomes suspicions of him and his intentions from there, even thinking that he's Jess' StalkerWithACrush or a even a SerialRapist. Aside from a subtle sketchy behaviour, Aiden genuinely did want to help Sara find her sister.]]
59	* StayOnThePath: Combined with DontGoInTheWoods. Also the film's ArcWords.
60	* StepfordSmiler: The twins are still haunted by their parents' deaths.
61	* ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight: Birds? Beasts? Souls of the damned? You pick.
62	* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: We see almost all of what Sara sees, some of which plainly isn't real.
63	* TokenTrio: The American Sara, the Australian Aiden, and the Japanese Michi.
64	* TooDumbToLive:
65	** [[spoiler:Sara deciding to stay in the forest after finding Jess's tent. Yes, ''really''. And dismissing the urban legends of Yurei haunting the forest as well]].
66	** [[spoiler:After going into an ice cave, Sara again encounters Hoshiko who tells her she can lead her to Jess. '''She follows her''', even when Hoshiko flashes a creepy grin at her]].
67	** Despite the facts [[spoiler:Sara can trust Aiden, she still '''flat out believes the Forest's tricks''' and in return, ''kills Aiden'']].
68	* TragicHero:
69	** [[spoiler:Sara came to Japan to look for her missing sister only to find herself having to confront past memories she wish she never have, then undergoing SanitySlippage thanks to the paranoia of the mystical forest, and then ultimately dying for her troubles.]]
70	** [[spoiler:Aiden genuinely did want to help Sara find her missing sister. But she succumbs to paranoia and ultimately kills him.]]
71	* TrailersAlwaysLie: The trailer features Sara in a ShowerScene which never happens in the actual film.
72	* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The ads showed the ending of the film [[spoiler: where Sara is pulled under the forest floor and killed]].
73	* TwinTelepathy: Sara's justification for traveling to Japan to search for her sister is that if Jess were dead, there would be "a silence." [[spoiler: Used to explain giving up on finding Sara without even trying at the end, too]].
74	* UnreliableVoiceover: Happens during Sara's MyGreatestFailure story.
75	* WhiteShirtOfDeath: [[spoiler: Aiden is wearing a white shirt when Sara kills him.]]
76	* YourMindMakesItReal: Sara is warned by Michi to never believe anything the titular forest shows or tells her because it will [[GoneHorriblyWrong not end well]].

Context Film / TheForest2016