The Rainbow Children
Directed by Ugo Bienvenu
Starring Juliano Krue Valdi, Romy Fay, Natalie Portman
Released January 30th, 2026
Rated PG-13
Towns are built on massive stilts high in the sky in the year 2932, which is when we meet a child named Arco (Juliano Krue Valdi) living in one of these sky houses with his family. It appears to be somewhat commonplace for adults to use a crystal and a cape to fly on rainbows, allowing them to travel through time to retrieve plants from the past to use for medicine and food in the present. At least it’s commonplace enough that Arco’s parents do this, and Arco really wants to try it out as well. As you can imagine, such an endeavor is fraught with danger, so it’s against the law for those under twelve years old to travel through time via flying on rainbows. This doesn’t stop Arco from stealing a crystal, grabbing a cape, and jumping out his window to fly on a rainbow while his parents slumber.
Since he’s never done this before, he loses control of his flight and unintentionally travels back in time to the year 2075, a year that features a world that’s all but unrecognizable to him. There has evidently been some sort of weather event, and every home exists in its own manufactured bubble to protect inhabitants from the harsh elements.
Arco meets a young girl about his age named Iris (Romy Fay), who lives in one of these bubbles with her baby brother. The youngster’s parents (Mark Ruffalo and Natalie Portman) are present only in the form of holograms, as they are working and living elsewhere. This seems to be the norm in 2075. The kids are cared for by their friendly robotic nanny Mikki, whose voice is a mixture of the children’s parent’s voices.
When Arco crashed into Iris’ time via rainbow travelling, he lost his crystal and without it cannot return home. As Iris and Arco try to find his crystal and figure out how to send Arco back to the future, three excitiable paranormal hunters (Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg, and Flea) are on his trail. These bumbling three stooges provide comic relief as they try to prove that they’ve found a time traveler. They dress like the Wiggles and wear sunglasses straight out of Back to the Future Part 2. Much of their humor fell flat for me, but perhaps their antics will entertain younger viewers.
Written and directed by French filmmaker Ugo Bienvenu (who also provides the voice for Mikki in the French dub), Arco is an animated film co-produced by Natalie Portman, who also provides a few voices in the English dub. The animation is not as accomplished as in films released by Studio Ghibli or as polished as those from Disney, but this is Bienvenu’s first feature and it’s always nice to see animation from new creators push the art form into unexpected areas. The characters are not photo realistic humans, which adds to the otherworldly feel of the film. Some of the more ambitious visuals reminded me of the classic science fiction epic Fantastic Planet. This is a film that takes its time revealing its story, content with a slow roll out so the audience understands the context and stakes.The worldbuilding is exemplary. A futurist agglomeration that culminates in a bittersweet ending, Arco is a bright and colorful animated adventure you’ll be happy to experience.