Alma Jodorowsky, America Ferrera, Andy Samberg, animation, Arco, Cannes Film Festival, film festivals, Flea, Frederique Cantrel, Joséphine Mancini, Juliano Valdi, Louis Garrel, Margot Ringard Olha, Mark Ruffalo, movies, Natalie Portman, Nathanael Perrot, Oscar Tresanini, Oxmo Puccino, reviews, Roeg Sutherland, Romy Fay, Sophie Mas, Swann Arlaud, TIFF, Toronto International Film Festival, Ugo Bienvenu, Vincent Macaigne, Will Ferrell, William Lebghil, Wyatt Danieluk, Zoya Bogomolova
January 28, 2026
by Carla Hay
Directed by Ugo Bienvenu
Available in the original French version (with English subtitles) or in a dubbed English-language version.
Culture Representation: Taking place on Earth in the year 2075 (and briefly in 2932), the animated film “Arco” features a predominately human cast of characters (with some robot characters) that are from Earth.
Culture Clash: A boy from the year 2932 crashes into another time dimension, where he befriends a 10 year-old girl in 2075, and they are hunted by three alien-chasing brothers, as the boy tries to get back to his home in the future.
Culture Audience: “Arco” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in entertaining and family-friendly animated films that are about human compassion and respecting beings and lifestyles that are different.
Equally inspired by European art films and Japanese anime, Arco is a dazzling sci-fi adventure film about time traveling and finding a way back home. There are a few story influences from 1982’s “E.T.” film, but “Arco” has enough originality to charm. “Arco” also weaves in a meaningful story about environmental issues without being too preachy.
Directed by Ugo Bienvenu (who co-wrote the “Arco” screenplay with Félix de Givry), “Arco” had its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. It also made the rounds at other film festivals, including the 2025 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where it won the prize for Best Feature Film) and the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. “Arco” has also been nominated for Best Animated Film for the 2026 Academy Awards.
“Arco” (which takes place in unnamed parts of Earth) begins by showing the movie’s title character named Arco Durell, who is a boy about 10 or 11 years old, in the year 2932. Arco lives with his unnamed parents and his older sister Ada. It’s a stable and loving family.
Arco’s parents are explorers. In this futuristic society, people fly in the air and can teleport themselves into the past. They wear hooded outfits with rainbow cloaks for this type of traveling. Each flying outfit comes equipped with a magical diamond that allows this teleporting to different time periods.
When they teleport or travel in the air, they look like they’re flying on rainbows. The law is that people have to be at least 12 years old for this type of traveling. Arco is a curious and adventurous child, so he’s naturally impatient to get a chance to fly.
In the beginning of the movie, Arco’s parents and Ada have come back from a trip back to the dinosaur age. Ada says they were too afraid to pet the dinosaurs. Arco is eager to go on this type of time-traveling trip, but he is strictly forbidden by his parents.
One night, when Ada is asleep, Arco steals her flying outfit and flies outside on his own. He has trouble adjusting to learning how to fly. And it isn’t long before he finds himself teleported to the year 2075. He crashes in a wooded area.
Meanwhile, a friendly 10-year-old girl named Iris lives a lonely life because her parents are frequently working away from home. She is taken care of by a robot named Mikki, who also looks after Iris’ baby brother Peter. Mikki is intelligent, resourceful and very loyal. Robots are part of everyday life and are seen doing various jobs that humans can also do. For example, there are scenes in the movie showing robots as yard workers, garbage collectors and restaurant servers.
It just so happens that Iris is by herself in the woods when she sees Arco crash in a rainbow flash and collapse on the ground. It isn’t long before three eccentric brothers in their 30s show up because they saw the rainbow too. These three brothers are fanatical about chasing any alien life form that they think comes from outer space.
The names of these brothers are Stewie, Dougie and Frankie. The brothers, who frequently bicker with each other, have a unusual way of dressing: They all dress in monochromatic clothes and wear sunglasses. Stewie wears all blue. Dougie wears all red. Frankie wears all yellow.
It’s mentioned much later in the movie, that about 20 years ago, when the brothers were children, they saw rainbow flashes that they were convinced were aliens from outer space. The brothers’ parents and other people didn’t believe them. The brothers were often laughed at when they told people what they saw, and the brothers became society outcasts.
However, Stewie, Dougie and Frankie never lost their obsession over the rainbow flashes and finding what types of aliens caused these flashes. When the brothers show up in the woods, they ask Iris if they saw any strange creatures crash in the woods. She says yes but deliberately misleads the brothers in the opposite direction of where she knows Arco has collapsed.
Iris then takes Arco, puts him on the back of her scooter, and brings him home. Mikki dutifully helps Arco recover from his slight injuries. Iris eventually introduces Arco to her outspoken friend Clifford.
But there’s a big problem for Arco to go back home. The diamond that powers Arco’s teleportation suit has been lost in the woods. Arco and Iris go back to the woods and can’t find the diamond. That’s because the alien-chasing brothers found the diamond before Arco and Iris could.
The rest of “Arco” is about the quest to find the diamond and for Arco to go back home. Arco, Iris, Clifford and Mikki are involved in this quest and predictably come across all sorts of obstacles. These challenges are well-crafted scenes and are suspensefully filmed.
The voices of “Arco” characters are portrayed by different cast members, depending on the version of the movie. The original French version (with English subtitles) has Oscar Tresanini as Arco, Margot Ringard Olha as Iris, Nathanaël Perrot as Clifford, Alma Jodorowsky, as Swann Arlaud as Mikki, Louis Garrel as Stewie, Vincent Macaigne as Dougie, William Lebghil as Frankie, Sophie Mas and Frédérique Cantrel as Arco’s mother, Oxmo Puccino as Arco’s father, Joséphine Mancini as Ada, Alma Jodorowsky as Iris’ mother and Swann Arlaud as Iris’ father. There’s also a U.S. version, with the dialogue dubbed in English, that has Juliano Valdi as Arco, Romy Fay as Iris, Wyatt Danieluk as Clifford, Natalie Portman (who is one of the movie’s producers) and Mark Ruffalo as Mikki, Andy Samberg as Stewie, Will Ferrell as Dougie, Flea as Frankie, America Ferrera as Arco’s mother, Roeg Sutherland as Arco’s father, Zoya Bogomolova as Ada, Portman as Iris’ mother and Ruffalo as Iris’ father.
Unlike many other animated films that are about adventures, “Arco” isn’t overstuffed with characters. The plot is easy to follow, and the story remains engaging throughout. It has some touches of comedy (mostly because of the buffoonish brothers), but most of the movie has a serious tone. The voice performances are serviceable. Where “Arco” really shines are in the memorable story and the vibrant visuals that make this the type of movie that will inspire repeat viewings.
Neon released “Arco” in select U.S. cinemas on November 14, 2025. The movie was re-released in select U.S. cinemas on January 23, 2026, with an expansion to more U.S. cinemas on January 30, 2026. “Arco” was released in France on October 22, 2025.