Orion and the Dark

Charlie Kaufman's unique voice is brought to family entertainment in Orion and the Dark, a Netflix/DreamWorks Animation partnership that transforms Emma Yarlett's picture book into an unexpectedly philosophical reflection on childhood worry. The movie centers on Orion (Jacob Tremblay), an eleven-year-old kid whose greatest fear is the dark itself. Bees, bullies, and the philosophical "nothingness of being" are just a few of the countless worries that paralyze him. After Dark (Paul Walter Hauser) manifests as a physical, unexpectedly weak entity, he takes Orion on a worldwide "Take Your Kid to Work Day" to meet other Night Entities, such as Sleep (Natasia Demetriou), Insomnia (Nat Faxon), and Sweet Dreams (Angela Bassett). Through meta-narrative layers that reveal adult Orion (Colin Hanks) narrating this story to his daughter and allusions to David Foster Wallace and Saul Bass, Kaufman's screenplay sets itself apart from conventional animated fare while rewarding adult viewers without offending youngsters. While Hauser's vocal performance gives Dark real sorrow, Mikros' animation captures a gentle, storybook look with 2D flourishes that represent Orion's diary entries, resulting in an unexpected bond that examines how fear can be reframed rather than simply overcome.

Reviewers have praised the film's ambition while pointing out its structural messiness, and the reception has been generally good although occasionally perplexing. One movie review site referred to it as "an early-year Netflix original surprise" that "does the Pixar Thing better than most recent Pixar movies," while another labeled it "bewildering" but appreciated Kaufman's "galaxy brain" approach to the subject matter. Though some individuals found the plot twists tiresome and the last act too long, the film has been compared to The Princess Bride and Inside Out for its nesting-doll storytelling and third-act discoveries regarding the nature of narrative itself. Others, however, are more divided, with some criticizing its "chunky animation" and perplexing plotline and others applauding its therapeutic potential for kids who are stressed. In the end, Orion and the Dark succeeds as a unique animated film that honors kids' ability to understand complicated concepts while providing parents with real emotional resonance—demonstrating that Kaufman's existential concerns can be translated into family entertainment without losing their fundamental humanity.

Staff:

Directed by: Sean Charmatz

Written by: Charlie Kaufman

Based on: Orion and the Dark by Emma Yarlett

Produced by: Peter McCown

Starring: Jacob Tremblay, Paul Walter Hauser, Colin Hanks, Mia Akemi Brown, Ike Barinholtz, Nat Faxon, Golda Rosheuvel, Natasia Demetriou, Aparna Nancherla, Carla Gugino, Matt Dellapina, and Angela Bassett.

Edited by: Kevin Sukho Lee

Music by: Robert Lydecker and Kevin Lax

Production company: DreamWorks Animation

Distributed by: Netflix

Release date: February 2, 2024

Running time: 93 minutes