Arco
In the future, a ten-year old boy who lives an idyllic life on a home on a stilt in the clouds with his parents (voices of Roeg Sutherland and America Ferrera) and sister, is frustrated that while they can fly off in rainbow suits leaving colorful trails to visit other time periods, the law prohibits him from doing so until he reaches the age of twelve. Intrigued by their tales of dinosaurs, he takes his sister's flying cap and cape as she sleeps and sets off for an adventure, but he won't have the one he was aiming for, instead crash landing in 2075, his past but the present of a little girl named Iris (voice of Romy Fay) who befriends "Arco."
Laura's Review: A
Writer/director/producer Ugo Bienvenu's magical feature debut encases an "E.T." like adventure story about friendship spanning two different worlds within an environmental message that offers both a dire warning and hope for our future. The lush, vibrant animation has traces of Miyazaki, its lovable nanny bot Mikki (voice of Mark Ruffalo) featuring the simplistic design of Pablo Berger's "Robot Dreams" robot and the loving, healing nature of "The Wild Robot's" ROZZUM unit 7134. This is a family film that doesn't keep things simple to appeal to children, Bienvenu instead encouraging them to think creatively about the future and establishing futuristic ideas by making them relatable to today's trends.
Arco (voice of Juliano Krue Valdi) lives in a seeming Utopia of lush greenery boasting fruits, flowers and rushing streams. When his family reappears from their latest travels on rainbow arcs, his dad presents a new plant gathered from a dinosaur era, one he talks about growing as they gather to cook a meal together. But Arco is a ten year-old boy itching for adventure and so he leaps into the void at dawn in his sister's suit and, after a few terrifying minutes, gains some control over flight if not his destination.
Iris also enjoys a loving family, but she mostly sees her parents (voices of Mark Ruffalo and Natalie Portman) in holographic form due to their work schedules, so her dinner table is quite different. The household is run by her nanny bot Mikki, but Iris helps as well, bathing her infant brother Peter. Clifford (voice of Wyatt Danieluk) calls to collect her for school, Iris driving them both on her bright yellow scooter, but she'll beg out of her astronomy class (one taught by robots, building on today's A.I.) saying she's feeling ill, instead sitting outside drawing what she sees in nature. She will also witness strange rainbows arcing across the sky, following one into the woods where she'll find Arco unconscious. But three strange men - Dougie (voice of Flea), Frankie (voice of Will Ferrell) and Stewie (voice of Andy Samberg) - looking like Gene Simmons differentiated by red, yellow and blue suits but all wearing rainbow glasses have also followed those rainbows and will ask Iris if she's seen anything strange in the woods. Iris tells of a boy in a rainbow suit but points them in the opposite direction. Iris takes Arco home on her scooter, but these three will continue to tail the youngsters like Jumba and Pleakley in 'Lilo & Stitch." And they've found the diamond lost from Arco's hood that enables him to get home.
At first, Mikki cares for Arco, stitching up the gash on his head, but when the boy comes to, Mikki cannot compute a being who technically does not yet exist, promptly crashing. Insurance bots arrive to take Mikki for repair, throwing Iris's house into chaos while Arco keeps saying he must get home. Iris will find him on her roof, covered in birds, their shared love of the creatures, who Arco can 'talk' to in addition mimicking their flight, one of their first bonding experiences. With trust built, Arco tells Iris the truth and they begin to compare their lives, Arco perplexed by electrical wires and mailboxes. Iris, who initially appears to live in a pretty nice neighborhood until we see roads blocked towards fire on the horizon later on, begins to draw as Arco describes his home, capturing it perfectly.
Bienvenu's third act escape adventure is great, building on all the themes he's introduced, revealing more truths about Iris's world. There will be a few surprising accomplices and Arco even sees the dinosaurs he set out for, just not in the way one expects. Another bird comes into play to lead the two to safety while Mikki draws from ancient civilization to reach the future in an incredibly moving scene. There are consequences for what Arco has done and Iris is left standing in an apocalyptic landscape, but a closing pan along drawings and photographs on her bedroom wall point towards a promising future. "Arco," which won best film at Annecy's animation festival, is a gem.
Robin's Review: B+
In 2932, young Arco broke the rules and “borrowed” his sister’s time travel cloak. He crash lands on earth in 2075 and meets a young girl named Iris. The cloak is broken and the two new friends must find a way to send him back to the future in “Arco.”
The youngster’s family, with their special cloaks, can fly through time creating rainbows wherever they travel. The youngster, in his heart, knows he can do it even though his dad admonished him that he is, by law, too young. That does not deter the boy and, wearing his sister’s cloak, he heads off on an adventure and back in time.
Iris finds him, unconscious after his bumpy landing, and she and the family robot take the boy home and nurse him back to health. When he awakes, his first concern is “where is the cloak,” Iris took it to wash. He gets it back but the diamond that powers the cloak is missing, Without it Arco is stuck hundreds of years from home.
Enter the rainbow hunters, three brothers and conspiracy theorists looking for Arco and they accidentally find the gem. What follows has the boy and Iris trying to find him a way home and the brothers trying to just find him. They are the comic relief for a story about friendship, family and love. Co-directors and co-writers Ugo Bienvenu and Gilles Cazaux give their work a distinct Studio Ghibli look that mirrors the Japanese animation company but not on their level. The characters, though, are solidly depicted and the kids feel like, well, kids.
It is an interesting look at the filmmakers’ depiction of our world in 50 years – global warming takes place, in spades. Think of California wildfires everywhere with the population living in protective bubbles. That is OK, though, since we will apparently actually have robots doing everything (just as we now fear).
This begs the question, what will happen to humans when the bots come to their senses and get rid of the surplus of mankind, Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics be damned?
Foreboding of our future aside, “Arco,” with its theme of love, friendship and family, is likely to be a strong candidate for an Best Animation Oscar nomination. It has appeal for all ages, except for the very young, making this a good family movie, so break out the popcorn and enjoy.
Neon releases "Arco" in select theaters on 1/23/26, expanding on 1/30/26. Click here for theaters and showtimes.
