Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes:
The thing Orion fears the most is the dark. When the embodiment of his worst fear pays a visit, Dark whisks Orion away on a roller-coaster ride around the world to prove there is nothing to be afraid of at night.
Review:
Charlie Kaufman’s name on a screenplay guarantees a weird, slightly heavy and usually good time. Orion and the Dark, an animated children’s movie adapted from Emma Yarlett’s picture book, and directed by newcomer Sean Charmatz, has all of Kaufman’s fingerprints on it, just not his directorial style. The film is a sweet multi- generational pondering on how wonderful and beautiful the world can be if you face and live with your fears.
Orion (Jacob Tremblay) is a 11-year old afraid of everything, especially the dark. So the deity of the night (Paul Walter Hauser) decides to visit him, take him on a job tour designed to rid Orion of all his phobias. Accompanying him are his friends and essential coworkers Insomnia (Nat Faxon), Unexplained Noises (Golda Rosheuvel), Quiet (Aparna Nancheria) and Sweet Dreams (Angela Bassett).
Kaufman is the Stephen King of developing neurotic absurdity. His career is all about finding inventive ways to torment characters with their neuroses. At his best, he can make those phobias seem a blessing. Orion is the perfect Kaufman child. The distancing device of having the adult Orion (Colin Hanks) relay the story as a bedtime tale for his fearful daughter Hypatia (Mia Akemi Brown), besides adding the expected Kaufman meta, gives kids watching a leveling device that shows their fears can be successfully dealt with.
Dark turns out to be a nice guy who is misunderstood. It’s that nuisance and narcissistic sun (Ike Barinholtz), which is constantly nipping at his heel, that is the bad one, a threat to his very being. The gap between logic and emotion is proven to be the well-spring of the best and most frightening stories all humans tell each other about the world.
Charmatz’s agile direction allows the action to switch between the imagined past and the actual present seamlessly. Its color coded anthropomorphic resemblance to Inside Out allows kids to sympathize quickly with the main theme.
Orion and the Dark gets a 3.5/5 or a B+. It’s streaming on Netflix.
Credits:
Directed by
Sean Charmatz
Screenplay by
Based on
Orion and The Dark
by Emma Yarlett
Produced by
Peter McCown
Starring
- Jacob Tremblay
- Paul Walter Hauser
- Angela Bassett
- Colin Hanks
- Natasia Demetriou
- Nat Faxon
- Ike Barinholtz
- Carla Gugino
Edited by
Kevin Sukho Lee
Music by
- Kevin Lax
- Robert Lydecker
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
- February 2, 2024(United States)
Running time
90 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
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