New trailer and poster take you into The Forest of Lost Souls

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Thirteen months ago, we shared the teaser trailer and the first poster for THE FOREST OF LOST SOULS, a film that caught my attention with its description as a "coming of age slasher". Now the film is set to make its world premiere in February at the Fantasporto International Film Festival in Portugal, and ahead of this event a new poster has been released, along with a new trailer.

The feature directorial debut of José Pedro Lopes, THE FOREST OF LOST SOULS (a.k.a. A FLORESTA DAS ALMAS PERDIDAS) was filmed in Portugal and Spain, with the cast including Daniela Love, Mafalda Banquart, Jorge Mota, and Lígia Roque.

The synopsis:

The Forest of the Lost Souls is a dense and remote forest, Portugal’s most popular place for suicide. In a summer morning, two strangers meet within the woods.

Ricardo (Jorge Mota) is a sad old man, who gave up on life when his older daughter, Irene (Lilia Lopes), took her life in a romantic pact gone wrong in the glacier lake that rests hidden deep in the forest.

Carolina (Daniela Love) is an eccentric, unstable young girl who finds all things related to death are fun.

As bumping into each other puts them off killing themselves, they decide to go for a walk to discover The Forest of the Lost Souls and see what they will find. As they walk deeper into the woods, they get to know each other and become friends: but one of them is not being honest, one of them is a dark and horrible person.

I love the look of this film's black and white cinematography, and I'm highly intrigued to see how its structure plays out: it has been said that it starts off as a "poetic drama about life" before becoming a suspenseful '70s-style slasher in the second act.

The Portugal world premiere is a bit out of my range, as is the African premiere at the Cameroon International Film Festival in April, but I'm really looking forward to seeing THE FOREST OF LOST SOULS and hope the global audience won't have to wait too long for the opportunity.