The second Dreamworks animated feature film made exclusively for Netflix after 2021’s Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans, Orion and the Dark is so exceptionally beautiful in both scripting and visuals that it would fit right in with the catalogue of Pixar. Adapting material from a picture book by Emma Yarlett, director Sean Charmatz makes his directorial debut with this special, deeply moving fable about finding that delicate balance in living our lives. Every frame of Orion pairs bubbly cartoonishness with decidedly adult themes. The film eventually turns meta in its approach to storytelling, closing with satisfyingly poignant messaging. An impressive vocal ensemble cast acts as a scary-cherry on top of this delightfully charming animated gem.
Total loner Orion (Jacob Tremblay, Wonder, The Little Mermaid) is deathly afraid of pretty much everything. This includes murderous gutter clowns, rejection, humiliation, and cell phone waves, but none are as intense as Orion’s disdain for the dark. The school counselor’s advice helps Orion to an extent, as he has been advised to document his fears in a little sketchbook. With an upcoming planetarium field trip at school looming, Orion cannot stop himself from spiraling down a black hole of worst case scenarios. Scripting duties fall to Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Anamolisa), injecting his own unique worldview. Every bit of Orion’s depth and more specifically his potential obsessive-compulsive disorder and crippling anxiety feel pulled from Kaufman’s mind. This alone adds incredible texture to the character, well before a heavy injection of the fantastical.
One lonely night before the field trip, Dark (Paul Walter Hauser, Cruella, Black Bird), an embodiment of Orion’s most intense fear, visits Orion beside his bed. What Dark proposes makes up the bulk of Orion and the Dark: in just twenty-four hours, Dark will help Orion overcome his fears, vowing to “eventually” bring him back home. From this point on, Dark and Orion embark on a wonderful journey of whimsy and emotionally complex turns. Orion meets other night entities, including sleep, who smothers folks with a magic pillow, and negativity-whispering insomnia. The movie has a lot of fun leaning into the sillier aspects, or at least allowing them to commingle with the more serious ones. A giant cosmic turtle that could be a reference to Stephen King’s It shows up at one point, along with a squeaky mouse whose dialogue is conveyed through subtitles.
Early on, Orion and the Dark makes reference to the nothingness of death, a sentiment many people have echoed in their thoughts on what happens when we die. Going to this extreme conveys a maturity to bring up the topic at all. Perhaps the film’s most meaningful handling of the balance of light and dark comes courtesy of a beautiful poem whose ripple effects can be felt throughout every segment. We root for Orion because he is just like us, with very real fears and emotions. The characters are not cookie cutter, nor are the answers easy. Mental health solutions rarely are, and Orion and the Dark refuses to oversimplify any of its takeaways.
It took many months for 2023 to emerge with strong animation contenders, but 2024 is already off to an amazing start. Orion and the Dark arrives bold and special in a manner few movies of this genre are able to accomplish. It delicately handles adult themes with grace while giving the kiddos plenty of bright colors and disparate characters to sit with. Between Orion and Leo, Netflix doubling down on the importance of therapy and mental health is a beautiful thing to see. No films even remotely close to those messages targeted at younger viewers were around much in the early 90s when I was growing up. How delightful that a new generation gets to experience a story so instantly hard-hitting and relatable. Whether one is an Orion or just another person far down on Dark’s laundry list of those who fear him, Orion and the Dark will be an unforgettable embrace for decades to come.
Turn on a light for Orion and the Dark, debuting globally to Netflix on Friday, February 2nd.
