Starring the Voices of: Roma Fay, Juliano Krue Valdi and Natalie Portman/Mark Ruffalo
Directed by: Ugo Bienvenu
Rated: PG
Running Time: 89 minutes
Neon
Our Score: 4 out of 5 Stars
There are a few things that make me suspicious of people: hating animals ranks high, and as a critic, hating kid-driven adventure stories is a red flag. It’s OK not to like some, but to not like all of them? Serial killer stuff. That’s because there’s an innate wanderlust baked into films like “The Goonies,” “E.T.” and “How to Train Your Dragon.” “Arco” doesn’t just stir that longing to explore the world, it reminds us of the world we’re actually living in.
Arco (Juliano Krue Valdi) is a 10-year-old boy living in 2932, an era where nature appears to have harmoniously reclaimed humanity in the clouds. It’s basically the Garden of Eden via sustainable urban planning. Instead of exploring the lush environment, Arco impatiently waits for his family to return from their time-travel expeditions. In this universe, people travel through time for holistic purposes. Arco’s father brings back plants from the dinosaur era to cultivate, not sports almanacs to gamble with. And nobody needs a DeLorean; they suit up and ride rainbows, as if a first-grade class designed time travel after parachute play. Arco steals his sister’s suit and rides the rainbow anyway.
In 2075, Iris (Romy Fay) lives in a household run entirely by a nanny-bot. Her parents are too busy to cook, clean, or tuck her in. When Iris discovers Arco unconscious in the woods, she drags him home and learns he’s from the future. They both learn…he might be stuck here. It’s the kind of child-like adventure you’d sketch on a notebook margin during a boring school day.
“Arco” gives us two dystopias. 2075 feels painfully plausible: suburban bubbles shield families from climate disasters, while robots and AI substitute for human connection. 2932 is gorgeous, but humanity lives on pillars above a flooded Earth. Adults in the audience will see the ecological alarm bells; the kids just see the magic. Yet both Arco and Iris seem to intuit the peril their worlds are in. Children often understand environmental stakes faster than adults. It echoes “C’mon C’mon,” where kids articulate climate fears more blatantly than the grown-ups interviewing them.
And still, “Arco” refuses to be bleak. It’s silly, adventurous, and sweet, with detours involving conspiracy-minded weirdos who know Arco is from the future and absolutely do not want to help him get back. All of it builds toward a third act that ups the peril, lands the themes, and might put a lump in your throat. Visually, the hand-drawn animation blends 1970s American aesthetics with Miyazaki. The artistry reinforces the film’s core belief that love, family, compassion, and simply talking to one another could fix more than we assume. It may even repair the damage we’ve already done.