Arco: an animation summit made in France (review)
A thrilling adventure for children. A marvel of science fiction film co-produced by Natalie Portman, with Miyazakian influences, big winner of the 2025 Annecy festival.
I lost my body, Flee, Linda wants chicken!… Crystal of the feature film in Annecy, co-produced by Natalie Portman and Sophie Mas, the first feature by Ugo Bienvenu does not stand out from the list of recent winners. So Arco is a marvel. A marvel of digital 2D animation on hand-made matte paintings, stunningly beautiful, under the digested influence of Miyazaki. A marvelous script (co-written by Félix de Givry) which will delight Amblin fans as well as Wall-E lovers, for its ability to speak to all audiences.
The action begins in 2932 when Arco, an intrepid kid, refuses to wait until the regulatory age to travel in time. But he, who dreams of finding himself in the age of dinosaurs, ends up in 2075, where he is taken in by a little girl who, like Elliott with ET, will do everything for him to find his home. This plot allows us to talk about both ecology (the elements are so wild in 2075 that each house has its retractable dome roof) and technology (the holograms which have taken the place of video exchanges, the nanny robots including Mikki, which Bienvenu had already brought to life in his comics) but without wallowing in easy pessimism.
Arco is constantly crossed by moments of humor (the three detectives looking for Arco vocally played by the irresistible trio Vincent Macaigne-Louis Garrel-William Lebghil…) and poetry. And implicitly says that technology is neither a threat nor a blessing but always – including in the future where it has further gained ground – what humans do with it. All without being a lesson giver. A tour de force.
By Ugo Bienvenu. With the voices of Margot Ringard Oldra, Alma Jodorowsky, Louis Garrel… Duration: 1h22. Released October 22, 2025
