In an animation landscape still crowded with sequels and recycled brands, Arco feels like a small but refreshing gust of imagination. Directed by French animator Ugo Bienvenu, the film plays like a gentle throwback to the kind of children’s adventure that once trusted young audiences to grapple with big ideas – while still delivering colour, humour, and wonder.
The story follows Iris (voiced by Romy Fay), a ten-year-old growing up in 2075 in a world where robots have quietly taken over most daily tasks and parents are often physically absent, communicating instead through holograms. Iris and her baby brother are primarily looked after by their attentive robot caretaker, Mikki (voiced by both Mark Ruffalo and Natalie Portman). Feeling lonely and restless, Iris longs for something – anything – out of the ordinary. That wish arrives quite literally from the sky when she spots a streak of rainbow light crash-landing in a nearby forest.
The source of that light is Arco (Juliano Krue Valdi), another ten-year-old – though from the year 2932. In his distant future, humanity survives on floating platforms in the clouds and travels through time using rainbow-colored flight suits powered by special gemstones. Children aren’t supposed to use them until they’re older. Naturally, Arco ignores that rule, steals one of the suits, and ends up stranded centuries in the past. When Iris discovers him, the two embark on an increasingly complicated mission to get him home while dodging a trio of hapless brothers (Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg, and Flea) who believe capturing Arco will prove time travel is real.
At its best, Arco has the buoyant, curious spirit of a classic children’s fantasy. Iris and Arco’s friendship forms the emotional backbone of the film, and the sense of adventure that grows between them feels genuine rather than manufactured. The film’s world-building is also quietly evocative: the future of 2075 isn’t dystopian so much as uneasy, marked by severe storms, wildfires, and protective bubble-like barriers that shield towns from environmental chaos. It’s recognizably our world, just nudged a little further down the path we’re already walking.
That environmental thread becomes increasingly central as the film progresses. Beneath its playful premise lies a fairly serious meditation on climate change and humanity’s long-term survival. Arco explains that in his era people have retreated to floating cities to allow Earth to heal – a striking image that hangs over the entire story. The film ultimately suggests that the future is shaped not just by technology, but by the imagination and compassion of children, a hopeful message that lands with surprising emotional weight in the final act.
Visually, Bienvenu’s animation has a storybook elegance to it – soft colors, dreamlike landscapes, and rainbows that feel magical rather than garish. There’s an unmistakable influence from Japanese animation, particularly the environmental sensibility and child-centric wonder associated with Hayao Miyazaki. That comparison is flattering, though Arco never quite reaches the same lyrical heights.
Where the film falters slightly is in its storytelling density. For younger viewers especially, the plot can feel a bit overstuffed. Time travel rules, missing gemstones, chasing villains, wildfires, police robots, and emotional revelations all arrive in quick succession. Adults may appreciate the complexity, but children under double digits could find parts of it confusing. The comic-relief brothers provide some slapstick energy but don’t always mesh perfectly with the film’s more contemplative themes.
Still, Arco builds toward a genuinely moving conclusion, one that reframes the entire adventure as part of a much larger cycle of time and memory. It’s a rare animated film willing to end on a bittersweet note – suggesting that small acts of kindness can ripple across centuries.
If the last year hasn’t been the strongest year for animated features, Arco at least reminds us what the medium can still do: imagine worlds impossible to film in live action while telling stories that resonate far beyond their colorful surfaces. It may be a little too ambitious for its own good, but its heart, and its imagination, are very much in the right place.
THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Arco is now screening in Australian theatres.
