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Arco is a miracle of a film, a beautifully animated handcrafted gem and a contemporary classic for families and adults alike. Ugo Bienvenu's debut feature mixes multiple genres, science fiction, fantasy, comedy, and love story, and comes up with something fresh, shiny and new. Critics love it: The Playlist called it "an imaginative and often moving animated wonder", while Collider described it as "unlike anything else you'll see this year". With effortless charm and grace, Bienvenu conjures up a sublime treat combining the soul of Flow and the emotional punch of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.

Nominated for Best Animated Feature at this year's Oscars, the film is underpinned by a wondrous premise.

In the year 2932, an idyllic future where people live in homes high above the Earth, Arco mistakenly travels back to the year 2075, a dystopian age of environmental peril. Here, Arco makes fast friends with Iris, a kindred spirit who sets out on a quest to help him fix his misfiring time-travel device and get him home.

Surrounding the central pair are a clutch of colourful characters played by a stellar voice cast. Hot on the trail of Arco are brothers Dougie, Stewie and Frankie, voiced by Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who have spent their lives trying to prove the existence of the "rainbow figures". Arco's parents are voiced by America Ferrera and Roeg Sutherland, and Iris's parents by Natalie Portman, who also acts as a producer, and Mark Ruffalo. Perhaps most memorable of all is Mikki, Iris's loveable family robot, whose voice is a combination of Portman and Ruffalo's voices. Mikki is a trusted guardian and earns an instant place in the movie robot hall of fame.

The visual style stands with the splendour of Hayao Miyazaki, and the film spins an imaginative, winningly etched tale of friendship, love and coming to terms with an ever-shifting world without ever skimping on the action or adventure.

When the dazzling resolution comes, Bienvenu not only makes it incredibly moving, take a bow, composer Arnaud Toulon, but also hopeful. Nominated for Best Children's and Family Film at the BAFTAs, Arco finds an affecting, earned sense of optimism and hope that persuasively argues if we work together, things will get better. Who can argue with that?
Ian Freer

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Arco is in cinemas from the 20th March - book now!