Phoenix Forgotten (2017) Review

Synopsis

Two decades after three teenagers disappeared in the wake of mysterious lights appearing above Phoenix, Arizona, unseen footage from that night has been discovered, chronicling the final hours of their fateful expedition.

Phoenix Forgotten Good Points

Interesting Real-World Inspiration

The story draws from the real life Phoenix Lights sightings in Phoenix, Arizona in 1997, and I do like it when a movie uses an actual unexplained event, as it gives the film a small anchor in reality.

Desert Setting

The wide, empty desert landscape creates a very natural sense of vulnerability, where the open spaces at night feel isolating and help reinforce the idea that the characters are far from help.

Premise

It fits the FF format well, and the camera presence actually makes sense once the story focuses on the group.

A Few Strong Atmospheric Moments

Some of the scenes do somewhat capture the creepy tone the film is aiming for, and is done fairly well at points, especially when the teenagers finally begin experiencing the strange phenomena in the desert.

Mystery Setup

The early interviews attempt to frame the story as a long-standing mystery involving missing teenagers and unexplained events, which adds some nice investigative structure.

Phoenix Forgotten Bad Points

Slow And Repetitive First Half

A large portion of the film is dedicated to interviews and explanations that repeat a lot of similar information.

Limited Tension

The footage from the missing teenagers – the most interesting part of the story – arrives relatively late, which leaves limited time to build tension around them.

Character Development

The three teenagers are introduced quickly and never really fully develop, which makes it difficult to care too much.

Split Narrative Structure

The movie divides its attention between the investigation years later and the events leading to the disappearance, and neither storyline receives enough focus.

Underdeveloped Central Mystery

While the strange lights remain the main threat, the film doesn’t add much complexity or mythology around it all.

Missed Opportunities

I did find that the film often moved past potentially unsettling moments too quickly, and some scenes could have been more developed.

Pacing

The first half moves a bit too slowly while the final stretch rushes through the most interesting material.

Payoff

Just as the story begins to explore the strange events in depth, it quickly moves toward the ending, and it’s all over.

Final Thoughts on Phoenix Forgotten

A lot of people in the found footage community seem to really like this one, but I am not a huge fan.

It has an intriguing premise with an interesting idea, but it never quite settles into a consistent mood, and I would have liked it to have gone a bit further on certain points and moments, and while some parts were fine, it felt like a missed opportunity to me.

Certainly watchable, though.

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Phoenix Forgotten on IMDB
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