The concept of time travel gets a unique, magical spin in Ugo Bienvenu’s visually rich animated adventure ARCO, produced by Natalie Portman. The film’s premise is that rainbows are actually time travellers from our future. Here, time travel isn’t simply an adventure—it’s employed to uncover lost truths about our planet and how human beings have endangered our environment.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t exciting, though, especially for Arco, a 10-year-old boy who can’t wait to travel through time, despite the fact that travel is restricted to those 12 and up. Arco pays for his impatience immediately when he is stranded in the year 2075, and must be rescued by Iris, a girl his own age. As the bond between them deepens, Arco finds out more about Iris’ era—where humans must live in domes that protect them from the extreme weather and rely very heavily on androids. But despite the precautions Iris’ people have taken, climate events can still present a danger, with one looming on the horizon—and Arco still needs very particular conditions to attempt a return home.

Bienvenu’s use of striking visuals and wistful storytelling will no doubt remind some of Hayao Miyazaki. And like Miyazaki’s works, Bienvenu’s film will speak to all ages—but ARCO is also infused with its own engaging and intense optimism, found particularly in its young protagonists, whose future is still very much up in the air.

—Robyn Citizen, Toronto International Film Festival guide