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")

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!

This screening that people are talking about was actually a TEST screening, not an advance screening... aka, it's a TEST to see what people like and don't like, and then they fix things... as for the music, what we heard during the test was actually temporary music. I heard a rumor that Mark Isham (Crash, River Run Trough It, etc) is doing the music for Not forgotten, so that should be pretty great....

I would DEFINITELY recommend this movie. Personally, I thought it had some really great twists and turns, and had a really cool dark feel to it, and a fascinating view of the dark underbelly of Mexico's low lives...Seriously, I did not see the ending coming at ALL. If I had to compare it to something, I would say it's like "Traffic" meets "A History of Violence". Oh, and obviously, Paz Vega's really hot.

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!

I love dark, twisted movies, and this is definitely right up there... an awesome thriller!

All of the religious rituals are pretty disturbing (but incredibly fascinating). The idea these people really exist and actually practice these rituals freaked me out!

All in all, I thought it was thought provoking, the performances were great, and the ending was entirely unexpected. I got the feeling there might be a sequel; if that's the case, I would definitely see it too.

Long story short: If you're into thrillers with some brains, then you'll really like Not Forgotten.