Natalie Portman and Mark Ruffalo lead the English voice cast in the new animated feature Arco, a rainbow-hued eco adventure that blends time travel with poignant family drama. The film, which marks the feature debut of director Ugo Bienvenu, follows a 10-year-old boy from Earth's drowned future and a contemporary girl raised by a robot nanny, creating a visually arresting and emotionally resonant tale.
A Visually Dazzling Yet Derivative Narrative
Arco boasts numerous strengths, including expressive character designs, a delicately melancholy musical score, and powerful emotional beats. However, the script occasionally feels too derivative for its own good, borrowing plot points from classic films. Young children are unlikely to notice or care about these narrative similarities, and the youngest viewers will be utterly captivated by the super-saturated, rainbow-swirled palette that dominates the animation.
The Rainbow Time-Traveller
The title character Arco, voiced by Juliano Krue, is a 10-year-old boy from a far future where Earth is a drowned planet. Humanity survives on man-made platforms stacked skyward. Arco yearns to time travel like his older sister and parents, who use a special rainbow-coloured cloak powered by a sparkly diamond device to visit eras such as the dinosaur age, gathering essential resources.
Despite being legally too young, Arco steals his sister's kit to embark on a rainbow-slaloming journey to the year 2075, where most of the film unfolds. After crash-landing in a forest, he is discovered by Iris, a 10-year-old girl voiced by Romy Fay, who has her own familial frustrations.
Iris and Her Robot Nanny
Iris resents that her parents, voiced by Mark Ruffalo and Natalie Portman, are perpetually absent, leaving her and her infant brother Peter in the care of nanny-robot Mikki. In a thoughtful creative touch, Mikki's voice is a blend of Ruffalo and Portman speaking lines simultaneously. This AI caregiver forms a deep bond with the children, central to the film's most emotionally persuasive moments.
The world of 2075 resembles our own in 2026, albeit with more frequent extreme storms and raging wildfires. Robots serve not only as domestic helpers but also as police officers, teachers, and other essential roles, painting a picture of a technologically advanced yet ecologically fragile society.
Clear Cinematic Parallels and Fresh Touches
The film draws obvious parallels to classics such as ET: The Extra-Terrestrial, Interstellar, AI, and La Jetée, while its visual style—featuring simplified characters against richly detailed backgrounds—echoes Japanese anime. Despite these influences, director Ugo Bienvenu, known for numerous shorts and music videos, injects enough freshness to keep the narrative engaging.
Beyond the chaste affection between Iris and Arco, the storyline involving Mikki the robot nanny delivers intensely sad and moving conclusions. For a film centred on the inevitable eradication of most life on Earth, Arco manages to avoid overwhelming depression by clinging to a slender thread of optimism.
Arco arrives in UK and Irish cinemas starting 20 March, offering families a thought-provoking, visually spectacular escape that balances ecological warnings with heartfelt human connections.
