Arco

Rating

Director

Ugo Bienvenu

Screenplay

Ugo Bienvenu, Félix de Givry

Length

1h 28m

Starring

English: Roma Fay, Juliano Krue Valdi, Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg, Flea, Jake Gyllenhaal, America Ferrera, Mark Ruffalo, Natalie Portman; French: Margot Ringard Oldra, Oscar Tresanini, Nathanaël Perrot, Alma Jodorowsky, Swann Arlaud, Vincent Macaigne, Louis Garrel, William Lebghil

MPAA Rating

PG

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Review

The wisdom of youth is a concept that runs through many animated films, Arco provides an adult-centric view of self-sacrifice while presenting it in terms children can understand but might not be able to fully grasp.

The film opens in a futuristic city high in the clouds. The human inhabitants use their advanced scientific capabilities to travel through the skies with great colorful cloaks that fill the sky with rainbows in their wake. They have a strict age restriction on such technology but Arco (voiced by Oscar Tresanini in French and Juliano Krue Valdi in English) wants to prove he’s mature enough to use them and sneaks out in the night with a parent’s cloak and immediately discovers he cannot control his flight and crash-lands in a forested woodland outside a small city.

There he’s rescued by the equally frustrated Iris (Margot Ringard Oldra and Romy Fay) whose parents are away working jobs that leaves her care in the hands of antiquated domestic robot Mikki (Ugo Bienvenu and a blended Mark Ruffalo and Natalie Portman). Recognizing in each other wayward souls looking for a purpose, they initially run from a trio of alien conspiracists looking for this spaceman. Arco and Iris try desperately to find a way to enable him to return home but events conspire against them.

French filmmaker Ugo Bienvenu has been steadily producing French animated shorts since 2009. Arco is his first feature length production and his inspiration is clearly taken from Japanese anime. Embracing worldviews similar to those in Hayao Miyazaki’s films, the fantastical is blended with realism to create a compelling tale of youthful foresight in a challenging but dismal future.

Bienvenu’s artistic style is flatly two-dimensional, further drawing on its anime inspirations to create vivid images while exploring heady themes and creating narrative twists that will enthuse young audiences while giving older ones something to think about. Miyazaki’s influence is in nearly every frame with the strange and unique obstacles, interesting youthful interactions, and endearing but slight comic zaniness. Better than two of Miyazaki’s latest efforts (Ponyo and The Boy and the Heron), it’s a far cry from his masterworks.

A notable first feature, Arco is engaging from start to finish and will create plenty of opportunities for discussions with young children who may not fully grasp the intent of its narrative. The problem is that some adults might struggle to explain these ideas to them as well and that could create points of frustration.

Review Written

March 31, 2026