Plot: A boy from the future crash-lands in the past, with his only way to get home stolen by a trio of conspiracy theorists determined to prove the case after 20 years of ridicule. Helping the young boy, Arco, is a brave young girl, Iris, who’s determined to help Arco find a way home while also changing the world around her.
Review: As I sit in stunned silence after watching the French animated science-fiction fantasy film Arco, my mind is an explosion of colors, and my heart is a rush of emotions. Directed by Ugo Bienvenu, Arco is a dazzling spectacle of sight and sound that took my breath away, with its brilliant use of the color spectrum, heartening themes of discovery and sacrifice, lush environments, breathtaking flora and fauna, and its ability to reduce me to tears on three separate occasions.
Let me get this part out of the way. I’m a sentimental sort. It comes with age, but the older I get, the easier it is for me to connect to stories and characters that leave an indelible mark on my soul. It takes something special, but when I watch something like Arco, and can feel the pain and wonder of its characters, I can’t help but be in awe of its glowing cinematic achievements.
In Bienvenu’s film, a young boy from the future named Arco (Juliano Krue Valdi) defies his parents’ wishes by stealing his sister’s time-traveling diamond and exploratory gear. All he wants is to see dinosaurs. All he needs is one quick trip to the past to satisfy his curiosity. It’ll only take a few minutes. A half-hour, tops. When his flight goes wrong, landing him in the year 2075, he meets Iris (Romy Fay), a young girl with absentee parents, a baby brother to look after, and a nanny robot that caters to the family’s every whim. More than anything, Iris wants her parents to come home. They work during the week, then sometimes through the weekend. Lately, they’re barely home at all, and Iris feels the neglect crushing down like a bed of rocks, pinning her in place. Stagnation. Boredom. Resentment.
However, when Iris meets Arco, every color comes into focus, life becomes a mysterious adventure, and her mission to help her new friend find his way home is exciting and heartbreaking. She doesn’t quite understand true love yet, but she knows that she loves Arco. When she looks at him, she sees a way out. Someone who made it beyond the clouds, past the boredom and blazing fires encroaching from the forest beyond. Arco feels the same. Iris is a beacon of comfort in an unfamiliar past, a warm embrace when the cold thought of returning home, his head dangling in shame, is too much for him to bear.
While the film’s majority centers on Arco and Iris, it also includes unforgettable moments and performances from Mikki (Mark Ruffalo/Natalie Portman), Iris’s nanny bot, caretaker, and friend, and the aforementioned trio of conspiracy theorists: Dougie (Will Ferrell), Stewie (Andy Samberg), and Frankie (Flea). Mikki is programmed to love and care for Iris and her family, but its directive goes above and beyond the call of duty throughout the film. I won’t spoil anything, but there’s a moment with Mikki toward the end of the movie that had me bawling my eyes out. It’s one of the film’s most powerful and emotional scenes. You’ll know it when you see it. Meanwhile, the trio appears villainous at first, but their arc is among the most satisfying as their obsession transmutes into genuine concern for their quarry.
Heightening the film’s gorgeous visuals is a stunning score by Arnaud Toulon. As the lilting piano gives way to the atmospheric orchestral arrangements, the music acts like a breath of fresh air as Iris’ town becomes choked with smoke from an encroaching forest fire. I don’t always notice soundtracks, which is weird considering how much I live, eat, and breathe music. Still, the score for Arco grabbed me by the ears immediately, begging me to pay attention throughout the adventure. I can’t wait to own a copy of the score and listen to it on repeat.
Another moving aspect of Arco is the film’s ability to portray young love with care, sincerity, and honesty. While Arco and Iris are children, their affection for one another is as powerful as any adult relationship. They’re both lost in their respective worlds, and when you feel as if you’re on the outside of everything and everyone around you, finding that one person who identifies with your pain and shares it can mean everything. Arco’s desire to explore the past to escape his present is so powerful that it leads him to the one person who can show him a path forward. At the same time, Iris longs for a loving touch, a radical change to the loop that leaves her feeling trapped. For Iris, Arco, with all of his wondrous stories about the future, is that escape.
When looking back at animation in the year 2025, I can’t imagine holding a conversation about it without mentioning Arco at the top of the discussion. As I sit here and think about all the things that make for a perfect animated film, it’s challenging to see any flaws in Arco. I laughed. I cried (three times). I watched the entire movie with my jaw slack, my eyes darting from one color to the next, a fruitless attempt to commit all the hues, shades, and tinctures to memory. I desperately need to share this movie with others, and can’t wait for them to experience the magic of Bienvenu’s film for all it has to offer.
