Even if you’re not the biggest fan of horror movies or get scared easily by them, ‘The Forest’ is a film you can bear and possibly enjoy. But for those of you who love the heart pumping thrill of being scared, I wouldn’t recommend purchasing a ticket.

“The Forest,” directed by Jason Zada, is based off of the Aokigahara, a forest in Japan where people go to commit suicide. In the plot, Natalie Dormer’s character, Sarah Price, learns of her sister’s recent disappearance into the Aokigahara forest and flies to Japan to search for her. Because of her close relationship with her sister Jess, also played by Dormer, Sarah believes she is still alive and lost in the vast forest. While on her journey, Sarah meets a journalist named Aiden, played by Taylor Kinney, who joins her in the search. A guide named Michi, who is played by Yukiyoshi Ozawa, takes the two deep into the forest where Sarah hallucinates paranormal activity and faces her demons.  

By starting off the movie with a teaser of a girl running through a dark forest, the movie had me hooked. The plot slowed afterward, allowing for a connection to the characters to be built, which I liked. Sarah and Jess’s relationship was demonstrated through several flashbacks, starting with an important incident that took place when they were kids. Natalie Dormer played a dual role well enough, which helped to differentiate between the two sisters. Classic jump scares with anticipation building up to a sound effect or pop up on the screen were featured throughout. Some of the pop ups were slightly cheesy and could have just been left out as they downgraded the movie’s quality.

Moments throughout the movie were focused on an artistic approach of displaying the scenery. While I enjoyed the beautiful content highlighting the forest in detail, it did not suit the genre. Although “The Forest” is a horror film, it fails to achieve a truly terrifying plot that would keep most people on the edge of their seat. But the movie still gave me waves of anxiety at times trying to decipher whether or not Sarah was hallucinating the situations occurring. Toward the end of the movie, the plot began to really pick up and became scarier than it was in the beginning. But the movie was still not as frightening compared to other horror movies I have seen such as “Insidious” and “The Cabin in the Woods.”

Still, “The Forest” was not as bad as I had thought it was going to be. The plot was unlike any other horror movie I’ve seen and kept me questioning what was going to happen next. I give the film a B-.