“Arco” (2025) is a cautionary tale about latchkey kids. The titular character (Juliano Valdi) is only ten years old and wants to time travel with his big sister, Ada (Zoya Bogomolova), and their parents (America Ferrera and Roeg Sutherland), but he must wait two more years. He decides to take his sister’s rainbow suit and crash lands back in time to 2075 when he catches the attention of Iris (Romy Fay) and three conspiracy theory obsessed brothers, Dougie (Will Ferrell), Stewie (Andy Samberg) and Frankie (Flea). Will he ever be able to return home? While the setting is imaginative and futuristic, it is not until the last half hour when the stakes feel real, and the consequences of kids getting up to shenanigans become permanent. Even moviegoers not into animated movies with children protagonists will get invested if they can hang on.
Children do dumb things not realizing the impact of their actions on others. The first hour may be too irritating for people tired of children going on adventures and thwarting adults attempting to mitigate the damage. Arco will be relatable to most kids who dreamed of flying or is obsessed with dinosaurs. While his family is flying around the timeline, he is a conscientious kid who does his chores without prompting and can speak bird. When he leaps from his bucolic home in the sky that looks like the USS Starship Enterprise grows on synthetic trees, it is the first time that there is a hint of danger. He does not know how to use the suits. He could die. He does not of course, but he could. A lot of moviegoers of a certain age will remember a plethora of news stories about kids tumbling out of windows that did not have sufficient safety guards.
During 2075, robots that could belong in the “Matrix” franchise, children and elderly adults mostly populate the suburbs while parents work in the city. Children have little to no human contact. The robots care for them. Jeanne (Natalie Portman, who also produced “Arco”) and Tom (Mark Ruffalo) entrust robot Mikki (Portman and Ruffalo’s voices combined, a brilliant creative choice to suggest its synthetic-ess but also its inherent parental nature) to care for Iris and her baby brother, Peter (voice actor not in the credits). Iris’ birthday is coming (I think), and her parents are not even coming home. The parents interact through holograms in a projecting container that collapses and looks like a cross between an eyeball with eyelashes and a spider. Mikki is left doing the heavy lifting, and if Mikki malfunctions, then Iris is the one responsible for herself and her brother. It is a nightmare point of view from anyone familiar with parentification abuse. Mikki was my favorite character because it was the only responsible adult in “Arco.” Clifford (Wyatt Danieluk) is her best friend at school, but his father is a part of his daily life. Everyday looks like a natural disaster, but because of the way that the neighborhood is built, no one gets hurt.
“Arco” is about the instant friendship between Arco and Iris. Fun fact: if you combine their names, it is the Spanish word for rainbow. Arco is desperate to get back home and not hurt the timeline. Iris instinctually helps Arco evade anyone who tries to stop him and hides him from anyone who may figure out that he does not belong, but she also enjoys his company. How do you know that this animated feature is French? While the kids are always engaging in age-appropriate interactions, there are hints of attraction between the two with Clifford more of a third wheel than a love triangle and content to have his love unrequited. This pre-love story is more convincing than most cinematic attempts at adult romance.
If “Arco” gets tedious, it is because of the chase scenes between the three brothers, the only onscreen adults with a lot of screentime. They are dressed in the primary colors that are the foundation of the rainbow: red, yellow and blue. It makes the film feel like a conventional cartoon, but they are not villains. They are Iris in the future if her encounter with Arco was shorter. It felt as if they were a distraction, and the film would be better without them.
In retrospect, the “Arco” story arc is predictable if you think of Biblical or old African American spirituals, “God gave Noah the rainbow sign. No more water, but fire next time.” It is a bit Biblical that a rainbow appears in the sky the day after the storm when Arco and Iris meet. That rainbow is Arco wearing the time travel suit. It is also Biblical to have a storm at the beginning of “Arco” and then the fire next time for the denouement. The last half hour is powerful, especially a foot chase in a school that gives Arco the experience that he really wanted. It is also notable for good intentions motivating everyone, including the robots, and it still results in loss. With all the technology featured in the film, the most moving homage to animation is the oldest form of human storytelling, which also functions as a way to save people when technology fails. It is also the most heartbreaking.
“Arco” embeds a lofty message of hope and despair. It imagines how climate change will affect the future but also offers a path where humanity and nature find a way to survive together. It is a bittersweet film that understands that time travel does not defy mortality, and even children could die. It is a dystopian tale that looks utopian. Children long for their parents, and there is ambiguity about the impact versus intent of the parents and the way that they spend time with their children.
There are apparently two different versions of “Arco”: dubbed and original French. I saw the dubbed, and I would have preferred to see the French one because no offense to the American actors, they could misinterpret the original intention and meaning of the words as they were originally written. Also, what is the point? Animated fans are already into anime and probably read subtitles, so who cares if it is Japanese or French. Also, as an American viewer, I would not immediately recognize a French actor’s voice, and even if I did, I would not have an immediate association with them whereas it is impossible with these very recognizable American actors. It is too distracting and actually worked against the plot because it subconsciously created certain expectations.
Because of its message and its strong final act, “Arco,” one of five nominees for the 2026 Oscars’ “Best Animated Feature,” has a strong chance to win, but there is still room for other contenders. (Sorry, not you, “Elio.”) The first two acts are examples of amazing worldbuilding, poignant characters and riveting relationship dynamics, but was uneven in terms of consistent momentum that it is possible to check out and not stick around long enough for the dynamite ending.
