Josh Reviews Orion and the Dark

Orion and the Dark is a terrific new animated film, created by Dreamworks Animation and released on Netflix.  It’s written by acclaimed screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), and as such it’s a story filled with rich emotional depths and fun narrative playfulness.  But this is not a for-adults-only work like Mr. Kaufman’s previous venture in animation, the stop-motion Anomalisa.  Orion and the Dark is that rare bird: a film that can truly be enjoyed by all ages, kids and adults alike.  I loved it.

The film focuses on Orion, an eleven-year-old boy who is wracked with anxiety.  He’s scared to talk to a girl at school, he’s scared to go on his class trip to a planetarium, he’s scared of the dark… he’s scared of so many things!  One night, alone in his room, Orion meets Dark, the embodiment of nighttime darkness.  Dark takes it upon himself to bring Orion along with him for 24 hours, as Dark goes about his job of bringing darkness across the globe, so he can teach Orion that there’s nothing to be afraid of in the dark.  Of course, things don’t go exactly as planned!

I love the way the film wrestles with Orion’s struggles with anxiety, something which can be appreciated by kids and adults alike.  This is an adult topic, and the film strikes a lovely balance in that it doesn’t oversimplify these issues or jump too quickly to pat, simple resolutions; but the film has a lightness and a humor that keeps the story entertaining at all times.  It never gets too heavy or dour.  I was impressed by this!  The film is very funny, but it’s also moving.

The voice cast is great.  Jacob Tremblay (Room, Doctor Sleep, The Predator) is wonderful as Orion.  This is a deep and nuanced performance; Mr. Tremblay is never anything less than 100% convincing.  Paul Walter Hauser (BlacKkKlansman, Da 5 Bloods, The Afterparty season two) is gruff and lovable as Dark.  Ike Barinholtz (Neighbors, The Afterparty, History of the World Part II) plays the arrogant, always cheerful Light, Dark’s main rival.  As the story unfolds, we get to meet Dark’s companions Insomnia (Nat Faxon, who’s been great on Disenchantment), Quiet (Aparna Nancherla), Unexplained Noises (Golda Rosheuvel), Sleep (Natasia Demetriou), and Sweet Dreams (Angela Bassett).  We also meet Carla Gugino (Snake Eyes, Sin City, Watchmen, American Gangster), and Matt Dellapina as Orion’s parents, Mia Akemi Brown as a heroic young girl named Hypatia, Colin Hanks (King Kong, Fargo, All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records) as a grown-up version of Orion, oh, and also the great Werner Herzog as a documentary narrator (in a very funny joke).

I take the plotting of animated films very seriously (I love animation and I want these films to be as made with as much care as live-action films), so I noticed a few moments when the film didn’t seem to be playing by its own rules.  (Didn’t Orion’s parents notice when morning came and he was gone from his bedroom?  Once things went bad and Light passed Dark in their journey around the globe, how did Dark every get back ahead again and restore the proper time-zones?)  But the film cleverly gives itself its own out as the narrative gets more playful as the story unfolds and we’re given the suggestion that maybe we shouldn’t quite trust the narrator telling us this story.  I thought that was a fun and clever twist.

The animation is lovely. I particularly enjoyed the child’s drawing style they used to depict Orion’s various flights of fancy as his anxiety presented doomsday scenarios of his every daily interaction.  That was very cool.

It’s a pleasure to see such a clever, funny, deep new animated film!  Don’t miss this.

Please help support my site by purchasing a copy of my latest comic book, Brother’s Keeper, which tells a true story from Israel’s 1948 War for Independence.  Click here to order a print copy, or click here to read it FREE on Kindle Unlimited!!

OR, click here to order a copy of my graphic novel, José and the Pirate Captain Toledano, a story of Jewish pirates that’s also a powerful coming-of-age story about “finding one’s tribe” and one’s place in the world.

Please support my website by clicking through one of my Amazon links the next time you need to shop!  As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.  That means I’ll receive a small percentage from ANY product you purchase from Amazon within 24 hours after clicking through.  Thank you!