Film Review: The Wild Robot

Based on Peter Brown’s book of the same name, The Wild Robot is the latest from DreamWorks Animation courtesy of writer/director, Chris Sanders, of Lilo & Stitch and How To Train Your Dragon fame. It follows a service robot later nicknamed Roz (Lupita Nyong’o), that gets separated from its cargo ship and washes ashore an island where it roams around trying to seek whoever ordered it. As it tries to acclimate itself to the wilderness, it unwittingly kills a bird and crushes some of its eggs, leaving only one, which proceeds to hatch. So, it is tasked to raising the baby goose with the help of a fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal).

Getting straight to the point, this might be one of the finest films to come out of DreamWorks Animation. Not only is it a gorgeous work of animation, full of painterly colors that really evoke the children’s story illustration vibe that I’m assuming is close to how it is in Brown’s book, it is a beautifully told story with many ideas in its mind told with a great sense of emotional resonance. I would be hard pressed to imagine anyone not resisting the tears that will eventually come like it did with me.

It’s mainly a story about parenthood, especially in regards to mothers, and how their lives can change so suddenly when a child enters the picture, completely upending any prior plans they may have had for their future, as well as the obvious frustrations that come with raising a child. You wouldn’t think a story about a robot would capture the complicated emotions of such an experience, but the writing is clever enough to really emphasize the way you fundamentally change as you become a parent. And seeing Roz go through this journey is incredibly moving as you see the baby grow up into Brightbill (Kit Connor) and he has to find his own way.

The film has many other interesting things going on. It’s also about finding community, it indirectly explores the immigrant experience as Roz finds herself trying to assimilate into life in the natural world, and it even touches on the effects of climate change as it slowly reveals to take place in a world where civilization has been ravaged by extreme weather, resulting in massive human migrations into these super high tech cities where there are many robots like Roz that help manage the facilities and assist families.

Lupita Nyong’o is really excellent here, borderline unrecognizable as she puts on a slight robotic affect that never goes overboard. She also has a great dynamic with Pascal and Connor, and there’s a strong assembly of supporting players like Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Matt Berry, and Ving Rhames who make a strong impression with their limited time as the various animals in the forest.

I was very impressed with The Wild Robot. I found to be an incredibly evocative and moving, and so easy to get invested in the central relationship between Roz and Brightbill. The artistry behind the animation is stunning and the score from Kris Bowers is lovely. Pretty much every element of the film is knocking it out of the park. They really made something special here, something that really speaks to the human experience and our relationship to mother nature and motherhood, despite not really featuring any humans. This is the kind of stuff that shows just how great and transcendent films made for children can be when the folks behind them really put in the work, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to just about anyone.

The Wild Robot is now out in theaters.