72
Metascore
23 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzBrought to life with a smooth and almost restrained kind of animation – all rounded edges and frames designed to breathe, rather than hyperactively cram in as much action as possible – and paced with a confident speed, Orion and the Dark will charm and entrance.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckHilariously and movingly tapping into typical childhood anxieties, it’s infused with ample wit of both the visual and verbal variety for adults.
- 80ColliderRoss BonaimeColliderRoss BonaimeIt's a delightfully smart and ambitious story that is equally powerful for children and adults alike.
- 80EmpireJohn NugentEmpireJohn NugentIt might look at first glance like another goofy CG distraction-fest, but this is that rare family-friendly film bursting with ideas and challenging concepts. It’s Charlie Kaufman’s introspective existential dread — for kids!
- 80Total FilmKate StablesTotal FilmKate StablesThis is a clever, all-ages charmer.
- 75New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottNew Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottSo, while “Orion and the Dark” is on one hand a fun and briskly paced fantasy-adventure, it also functions nicely as a smart, thoughtful and often trippy exploration of existential dread.
- 70IGNA.A. DowdIGNA.A. DowdIf the animation is nothing special, the script is better than what drives most animated movies aimed at a young audience. And you can certainly feel Kaufman’s neurotic touch on the material.
- 60The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawIt is a sweet-natured little tale, indebted to Monsters Inc and the whole Pixar canon but saved from being predictable with other borrowings (Back to the Future, Inception), as well as its various metafictional levels of storytelling.
- 60The Daily BeastNick SchagerThe Daily BeastNick SchagerBoasts the idiosyncratic anxiety, depression, and angst of its author’s work and the bouncy tone and matching visual style of every other recent cinematic kid’s fable—two flavors that, it turns out, don’t really go well together.
- 50Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreThis Netflix production, scripted by Kaufman and perhaps rendered into something more sensible by co-writer and children’s animation vet Lloyd Taylor (“Nimona”) is fanciful but formulaic, and unlike most of Kaufman’s boundary-breaking writing, it’s downright derivative.