The Forgotten
Metascore
43 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 34 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 34
  3. Negative: 8 out of 34
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  1. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    38
    The last act, when the movie falls apart like a cheap toy, is both a deus ex machina and an anticlimax.
  2. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Megan Lehmann
    38
    The worst crime perpetrated in the Swiss-cheese screenplay by Gerald Di Pego ("Angel Eyes") is the cynical use of a mother's love for her child as a plot device for an intelligence-insulting sci-fi dud.
  3. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Mike Clark
    38
    All this dreary movie has is a terrible whodunit payoff.
  4. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    25
    Tedious and incoherent thriller.
  5. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    30
    My favorite line from the movie: "The god---- truth won't fit in your brain." How's that for cheap gimmicks for getting out of having to make a movie make sense?
  6. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    30
    Though it soon devolves into a laughable mess, The Forgotten at least spends its first 10 minutes or so raising provocative questions.
  7. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    30
    In the preposterous thriller The Forgotten, a pseudospiritual, mumbo-jumbo, science-fiction inflected mess, the director Joseph Ruben does not just fail to tap into Ms. Moore's talent; he barely gets her attention.
  8. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    10
    It's "The Sixth Sense" as nonsense, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" without the sunshine. Or the mind.
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User Reviews

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User Score
5.5 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 120 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 67
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 67
  3. Negative: 32 out of 67
  1. Lopez17
    5
    What if someone told you that your child never existed that it was all just apart of your imagination that you dreamed up a happy life, with a happy little boy/girl. Then one day you wake up and that child is suddenly forgotten pictures, videos, friends everyone who knew your child suddenly has forgotten that he/she ever existed. Joseph Ruben's "The Forgotten" explores themes relating to the above statement, Ruben's film tells the story of a grieving mother named Telly Paretta (Julianne Moore) who fourteen months ago lost her nine-year-old son Sam in a plane crash and every day she goes to her and looks at his precious baseball cap and catcherâ… Full Review »
  2. TinaA.
    10
    Are you people insane? This movie was amazing, and one of the best thrillers ever! Ms. Moore was spectacular!
  3. worleyjamers
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. I loved the first half...the pacing especially. The film follows a woman who is grieving over the loss of her son, and then during that process, she's informed that her son didn't exist. The plot progressed nicely and was aided by the solid performances by Julianne Moore and Dominic West. Then there was sudden shift about 3/4's of the way through the film where it just all went downhill. The plot got really confusing, and then the ending was like...wtf. Overall, a decent and entertaining film, but I was slightly disappointed because I thought it had potential.… Full Review »
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