Review: Animated Sci-Fi Film ‘Arco’ is a Wondrous Look into the Future
by Alex Billington
November 14, 2025
“Little boys don’t just fall from the sky. It’s as if his didn’t exist.” Oh he does exist! But only if you have the courage to imagine his future. Another wonderfully original animation creation from this year is a film titled Arco, a French animated feature made by illustrator / filmmaker Ugo Bienvenu as his feature directorial debut. Arco already premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival earlier in the year, and I caught up with it at the 2025 Sitges Film Festival this fall where I’m lucky to have been able to watch it on the big screen with an audience. It’s the latest hard sci-fi animated film I’ve seen since the excellent French film Mars Express a few years ago. This year we also have Pixar’s sci-fi movie Elio, which is quite similar to this one, about how one child’s life is changed by a sci-fi experience. Arco goes all out with a double dose of sci-fi world building, setting the film in the year 2932 and also in the year 2075. Ultimately it’s a story the cleverly plays with the time travel idea that you can and will influence the future by interacting with the future. I surprisingly loved this film & highly recommend it to those who enjoy science fiction no matter if it’s animation or otherwise.
Arco is directed by filmmaker Ugo Bienvenu, and co-written by Ugo Bienvenu & Félix de Givry, animated by Remembers. Before making this film, Bienvenu was making comic books as well as other animated projects. The story begins right away in the year 2932, where human beings live in a peaceful utopian society and fly around in rainbow suits while living in towers that ascend up into the clouds. While this visualization can be interpreted many ways, ultimately the film focuses on this rainbow as a motif for inspiring a brighter, better future. Arco is a 10-year-old boy from 2932 who gets too excited about flying around in his rainbow suit. He doesn’t know how to control it and flies right through time and crashes back in the year 2075. This timeline is already incredibly futuristic, with robot butlers and workers everywhere, and special domes built around residential neighborhoods to protect them from climate disasters. It’s a sad look at how bad climate change will get in the decades to come. In the year 2075, Iris finds Arco and takes him into her home, helping him find his way back to his time. This part is where the story also feels very humbly inspired by Studio Ghibli and their movies like Castle in the Sky with this endearing relationship between this young boy and girl as they head off of an adventure. They’re pursued by a kooky trio who want the rainbow crystal for themselves.
The story in Arco bounces around too much and gets a bit goofy in the middle with the trio after them + all the robots, but still offers an entirely engaging, exceptionally vivid storytelling experience. It’s a fascinating sci-fi fantasy fable about manifesting change and creating a better future through friendship and positivity. It’s so beautiful, impressively detailed, and entirely original in an imaginative way, with a lovely score (by Arnaud Toulon) – it’s exactly my kind of cinema. The world building in here is totally rad and lives up to what sci-fi can be. I especially enjoyed the futuristic sci-fi setting on top of another futuristic sci-fi setting. Two visions of our future! The whole experience is visually entrancing, with a potent story about being the change you want to see. Not just wishing for it to better and hoping someone else will make it happen – it’s about making that happen on your own. And it feels like a wholesome story for kids to enjoy, too. The film features an English language cast with Natalie Portman & Will Ferrell along with the original French voices – both versions are available to watch. It’s best to see it on the big screen, but either way, discovering and enjoying this adventure with Arco & Iris will leave you deeply inspired to actually go make a difference.
Alex’s Rating: 8 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
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