Forge stars Andie Ju (playing Coco Zhang) and Brandon Soo Hoo (playing Raymond Zhang) as a sibling criminal duo who run a lucrative underground art forgery ring out of Miami, Florida. Their family is unaware of their secret art forgery moonlighting, as Coco helps run a small family business restaurant during the day serving Miami locals. Coco is a naturally talented artist who has an appreciation and love for the artists she strives to replicate the work of.  Her brother Raymond serves as the head of their underground business communications, locating and researching potential marks and profitable forgery opportunities. This ironically mirrors the fictitious Finance career Raymond has fabricated to appease his mom’s desire for her son to be successful (Raymond’s true day job is customer service at a Miami beach resort). 

 

Everything appears to be running smoothly until Raymond gets involved with a disgraced multimillionaire Holden Beaumont (Edmund Donovan) who wants to recruit Raymond and Coco to help “recover” (by counterfeiting) his grandfather’s art collection that was lost in a fire. This error in judgment leads to increased scrutiny and exposure of their forgery business to the FBI, spearheaded by Agent Emily Lee (Kelly Marie Tran) who struggles to find the respect she deserves at the FBI, and specifically her underlooked division that handles art forgeries.  

 

A cat and mouse game ensues between the lone FBI agent and Coco and Raymond and as an audience member, I strangely found myself empathizing and rooting for both opposing sides. This concept of likable, empathetic antagonists is a difficult one to master, but writer/director Jing Ai Ng succeeds in this feeling with her sympathetic characters and their relatable struggles and desires to be successful and make their family proud. Kelly Marie Tran has limited screen time, but is utilized effectively and serves well as the seemingly sole opposition to the Zhang's growing criminal enterprise. The relationship between Lee and the Zhang siblings reminded me of Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can with its effective character development and inspired compassion for the individual struggles of all 3 characters. 

 

Contrary to its moniker, Forge is 100% genuine in its carefully crafted story, characters and attention to detail in its production design (especially the paintings and the process depicted in recreating the forged artwork). It is elevated by its stunning cinematography of Miami, Florida which serves as a character in itself. The vibrant Miami nightlife is on full display and cleverly contrasts with the tonal shift seen in the Zhang's very different “day jobs.”  The vibrant colors and lighting capture a bustling Miami that pulses along with an original score that keeps its audience on the edge of their seat, eagerly waiting for what will unfold next for the characters. Forge is tense and gripping at times and leaves the audience with an open ended conclusion that manages to be both satisfying and thought provoking to what may have occurred after the credits start to roll.