In March 2025, Tom Holland brings his unmistakable charisma to the screen in the eco-thriller “The Last Forest”, directed by Lena Karpova. Co-starring Svetlana Ustinova and Zhang Chiwen, the film investigates the disappearance of mysterious forests in Russia’s Zabaykalsky region — a story blending environmental anxiety with personal drama. Holland plays a geologist-inspector caught between science and corporate corruption surrounding natural resources.

Known for blockbusters like Spider-Man and Uncharted, Holland’s role in “The Last Forest” marks a significant creative challenge: the film not only aims to captivate visually with its Siberian forest setting, but also to showcase Holland’s capacity for nuanced, dramatic performance. Where many see only action, Holland delves into complex emotional terrain.

The film debuts on March 22, 2025, with Holland confirmed to appear at its Berlin festival promotion. “The Last Forest” is shaping up to be one of the most memorable independently produced Russian films with global backing — and Holland’s contribution is central to its impact.

The Last Forest is not just an eco-thriller — it’s a quiet cry for help wrapped in a suspenseful, beautifully composed mystery. Set in the remote and hauntingly vast Zabaykalsky Krai of Eastern Siberia, the film uses its isolated setting as both narrative catalyst and atmospheric character. Director Lena Karpova — known for her minimalist, emotionally resonant storytelling — crafts a film that feels simultaneously intimate and epic.

Tom Holland plays James Calder, a British geologist who has spent years mapping disappearing biomes across Eurasia. Sent to investigate why entire tracts of ancient forest are vanishing without trace — not burned, not logged, but seemingly erased — he finds himself in a world where nature and truth are under siege. What begins as a scientific expedition quickly transforms into a confrontation with forces far beyond what his instruments can measure.

The deeper he ventures into the wilderness, the more unsettling his findings become. Animal populations are silent. Trees rot from within. Entire GPS-mapped valleys seem to vanish overnight. What James discovers is not a natural process — it’s a controlled dismantling, orchestrated by a global resource conglomerate whose reach stretches into government and private industry alike.

Holland’s performance is raw and restrained. Gone is the boyish exuberance of his Marvel years — here, he plays a man hollowed out by disillusionment, desperately trying to stay rational in a world that no longer follows rational laws. His James is methodical, but shaken. Courageous, but afraid to admit the scale of the crisis he’s uncovering. The role gives Holland space to embody quiet dread, grief, and a desperate, flickering hope for redemption.

Svetlana Ustinova co-stars as Irina Mikhailovna, a local botanist and former dissident who lives in near-exile at the edge of the forest. Her character provides not only scientific insight, but a cultural lens through which James must reexamine his Western approach to nature and knowledge. Irina believes the forest is not just an ecosystem, but a living memory — one that remembers destruction and doesn’t forgive it easily.

Zhang Chiwen brings measured intensity as Dr. Zhao Jian, a Chinese climate data analyst assigned to collaborate with James but secretly working with unknown interests. His loyalty, methods, and personal convictions remain shrouded in ambiguity, adding to the film’s growing sense of paranoia and unease.

Visually, The Last Forest is stunning. Cinematographer Mikhail Alekseev captures the eerie silence of Siberia’s taiga with vast drone shots, fog-drenched ravines, and natural light that shifts from golden serenity to suffocating gray. The film moves slowly and deliberately, evoking a sense of creeping dread reminiscent of Tarkovsky’s Stalker and the ecological horror of Annihilation.

Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir delivers a sparse, unsettling score using field recordings of wind, creaking branches, and distorted birdcalls. The sound design itself becomes part of the storytelling — reinforcing the idea that the forest is watching, responding, changing.

But beneath the surface mystery lies a deeper meditation: on exploitation, colonialism, and the irreversible damage of human arrogance. As James uncovers corporate secrets buried in the soil — and faces his own complicity — the film asks pressing questions about what it means to be a witness, and what it costs to act.

Premiering on March 22, 2025, at the Berlin International Film Festival, The Last Forest is already generating buzz for its genre-defying mix of thriller, slow-burn drama, and environmental philosophy. For Tom Holland, the film is a bold, career-defining shift — a chance to prove that his talents extend far beyond the high-flying action of blockbusters.

And for audiences, it is a haunting reminder: the earth may not scream when it suffers — but it never forgets.