By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.8 cats
Director: Pablo Berger
Starring: Albert Trifol Segarra | Ivan Labanda | José García Tos | José Luis Mediavilla | Rafa Calvo
Year: 2024
Running time: 102
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13429870/reference/
Val says: “Though they’re both about robot companions entering the animated world of people (using that term loosely), I wouldn’t call ROBOT DREAMS, writer/director Pablo Berger’s first animated feature, a spiritual successor to THE IRON GIANT – stylistically and thematically, ROBOT DREAMS presents much more adult-related plot points. While an exploration of the nature of loneliness and the plight of the outsider is a major driver of both plots, it feels to me much more like a story about identity than one about coming-of-age. While I did ugly cry at both (albeit a couple of decades apart), the feelings they left me with were markedly different.
“This largely dialogue-free, beautifully animated story was an unexpected guy punch right to the feels – there’s an especially poignant interlude that features a family of birds – and it doesn’t go where you think it will. Berger examines what it means for us to be truly ourselves in the context of whatever relationship or situation we’re in, all through the eyes of a lonely dog and a charming robot. He does this while throwing us comedic curve-balls, gut-wrenching tragedies, and, of course, his titular psychedelic robot dreams. I was completely emotionally unprepared for the journey I went on and loved every moment of it. Berger takes his sweet time to drag out the slow pace of the seasons, which felt excruciating to me; but the effect payed off in the end. 4.8 cats”