Orion and the Dark (2024)

Orion-and-the-Dark-(2024)
Orion and the Dark (2024)

DreamWorks and Netflix’s Orion and the Dark is more accurate than most recent Pixar films in carrying out the Pixar Thing. Such is the ease with which the film draws on the Prime Pixar font of anthropomorphism introduced in films like ‘Inside Out’ and ‘Toy Story’ and the film prologue itself refers to Toy Story. The good news is that it adds to a framework rather than simply copying it as numerous other Pixar impostors have done. This one strikes chords that are familiar, to be sure, but it works because it mixes writer Charlie Kaufman’s vision with a simple heartfelt story of a boy residing in the world and yearning to feel safe. ‘Orion and the Dark’ features great character design, lots of funny dialogues, and great positive messages making it an early-year Netflix original gem.

To believe that “Orion and the Dark” was composed by the author of Adaptation or Being John Malkovich is quite naïve; it is obvious from a glance that the movie script runs in the precise opposite direction from what a typical family film would be like. How often do you see a character in an animated series making a reference to Saul Bass or David Foster Wallace? And that is just in the prologue. In that effective in-between sequence that is practically a mini-movie in its own right, Kaufman and his co-writer, the first-time director Sean Charmatz, show viewers Orion (Jacob Tremblay), a timid child in grade school who is scared of lots of things. Scared of being picked up by bullies, being stung by bees, being at the edge of a building you name it, he’s most likely intimidated by it. Most of all, however, he loathes that universally shared feature of mankind, so-called, darkness.

So one week, after being reassured by his loving parents (Carla Gugino & Matt Dellapina) that everything will be theoretically fine, he finally meets the literally Dark, the Paul Walter Hauser, and it is brilliant to hear how his sonorous presence transforms from ebullience to fragility as the film goes on. If anything, his performance is a testament to how children’s cartoons should employ voice talents, and not treat them as a side job. It’s a voice act that encompasses everything from the very daring to the obviously romantic. Wouldn’t the Dark, to some degree, share some qualities with Orion? For example, to feel obsolete and ultimately not needed on earth would be a daunting prospect. Light naturally appeals to people, Light is essentially like Superman fighting against the dark who is always brooding and mysterious like Batman.

Dark’s plan in this case is nothing short of ludicrous he thinks that if he is able to take Orion with him everywhere, the boy will eventually stop being scared of the Dark and his ‘job.’ So, in what can only be described as the most bizarre Take Your Kid To Work Day in history, the Dark takes Orion through various parts of the world. During the trip, he meets Sweet Dreams (Angela Bassett), Sleep (Natasia Demetriou from “What We Do in the Shadows”), Unexplained Noises (Golda Rosheuvel), Insomnia (Nat Faxon), and Quiet (Aparna Nancherla). At this point, one begins to feel the resemblance of Charmetz’s production with that of “Inside Out” These factors function in the background as intertwined forces, just as the characters in that hit Pixar film but it somehow manages to keep its own identity. It forages out a separate parallel lane rather than just following the same road.

This is in line with Kaufman embedding a story inside another one as he chooses to do so. After some time, “Orion and the Dark” flashes forward to find an adult version of the character Colin Hanks narrating about his daughter and his encounter with the Dark. Is this a story he has told her on purpose to calm her fears of the dark, or did it take place And his daughter, how should one interpret the story in her very own terms? It’s here where the little ones may get a bit hazy but Kaufman and Charmatz once more make magic, this time more with the narrative of their film which is permitted to be more off-the-wall although more emotional.

There are a few excessive amounts of Orion and Dark zipping across the horizon and some of the music choices that did not sound right to me. There is a, believe it or not, what one would consider an excess of ideas once Dark gets his own emotional arc and both Orion and his future daughter become the heroes. A single script seems packed with an entire season’s worth of ideas But when was the last time you saw a new cartoon and would say that it has way too much to offer for one movie It was probably a Pixar flick.

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