In the beginning of “Arco,” the 10-year-old title character gets his hands on a piece of technology that he’s far too young to handle. No, not a smartphone, but a polychromatic cape used to travel across space and time. Having lived all his life in the clouds, where humanity has re-established itself in towering structures after an environmental catastrophe, Arco is desperate to journey back to the age of the dinosaurs. Instead, he crash-lands in 2075, when robots perform most of society’s essential jobs, and extreme weather events — furious thunderstorms and wildfires — are the norm.
Like a cross between a Studio Ghibli joint and “Interstellar,” “Arco,” by the French comic-book artist turned filmmaker Ugo Bienvenu, strikes a lovely balance between fantastical kid-friendly wholesomeness and real-world bleakness. In crisp, expressive 2D animation, the film builds out its mechanized vision of 2075 by pairing its bewildered hero with a lonely girl, Iris, who finds his unconscious body in the woods and vows to help him return home.
Meanwhile, three goofy conspiracy theorists (voiced by Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg and Flea in the English dub) trail the friends, believing that rainbows — like the one created by Arco’s tumble from the sky — will give them access to resources from the future.
As maudlin as the film gets, its big emotions are at least rooted in the familiar form of isolation caused by our overreliance on technology. Iris’s parents work abroad, and she and her baby brother are raised by a robot whose voice combines those of her parents — played by Natalie Portman and Mark Ruffalo. In one slapstick-y chase scene, the kids run through a school’s classrooms, most of which are virtual-reality portals to past eras. Here, Arco finally gets to see the dinosaurs, though if the film is ultimately fair-minded about our gadgets’ wondrous abilities, it’s also mournful about what gets left behind. Arco and Iris find refuge in the library because no one ever goes in there.
Arco
Rated PG. Running time: 1 hour 22 minutes. In theaters.
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