David Farnor | On 23, Nov 2024

Director: Chris Sanders
Cast: Lupita Nyong’o, Kit Connor, Pedro Pascal, Bill Nighy
Certificate: U

There are films about robots and there are films about robots. The Wild Robot is the latter, the kind of metallic movie-making that warms the heart with deeply human feeling.

Based on the book of the same name by Peter Brown, it follows Rozzum Unit 7134 (Lupita Nyong’o), who crash-lands on an island only to find her systems baffled by an ecosystem that doesn’t compute. Programmed to solve tasks for humans, Roz instead has to learn the food chain and rules of an animal society – and then tries to help them instead.

That process begins with looking after a goose egg – first, trying to keep it in one piece, then trying to help it hatch, then figuring out how earth to take care of the gosling that emerges. Brightbill, as he’s soon named, needs to eat, swim and fly if he’s going to survive the winter – not to mention needing to be accepted by the other geese when they fly south in a pack.

How can a robot teach an animal about life? With the assistance – or at least the interference – of self-serving fox Fink (Pedro Pascal). What ensues is a tale not so much of mechanics as it is a story of parenthood and compassion, as Roz learns to think about others through a lens of feeling rather than logic, and has to work out what lessons to pass on to her adopted child.

Director Chris Sanders – who’s previously helmed Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon – is no stranger to communicating big ideas without words, and that’s still the case here. The island is bursting with colour and vibrant details, each one rooted in a heartfelt understanding of characters and relationships. There’s an almost watercolour vibe to the beautifully simple but hugely textured landscape, and it translates into wondrous excitement when bursts of action unfold – from chases to keeping the peace as tensions erupt.

The cast bring it all to life with wonderful vocal performances, including Pascal’s charming rascal lone wolf, Catherine O’Hara’s weary possum, Bill Nighy’s stern but soft-hearted goose, and a host of other colourful critters (Mark Hamill, Matt Berry and Ving Rhames are standouts). But it’s Kit Connor and Lupita Nyong’o who are at the centre of the film’s disarming warmth, as Connor’s gradual understand of his identity is echoed by Nyong’o’s slowly thawing, rollercoaster delivery of an increasingly evolving understanding of a complex world.

“Sometimes, to survive, we must become more than we were programmed to be,” we’re told partway through. That simple truth – whether it’s learning to let someone go or that kindness is a survival skill – resonates on countless levels. What a gorgeously profound tale this is.

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