Story
Arco Dorell (voice of Juliano Krue Valdi) is a 10-year-old boy living in the future of 2932. Humans now live in sophisticated tree houses in the clouds because the Earth is covered in water.
Humans have also learned how to time travel. Arco’s parents and sister regularly time travel, but Arco has to wait until he’s 12 before he can try. Arco is jealous that his sister has been able to see the dinosaurs, so one night he steals her rainbow time travel cape and gemstone and sets off on a flight.
Arco crash lands on Earth in 2075, where there are frequent storms and wildfires, so most structures are housed in protective bubbles. A young girl called Iris (Romy Fay) finds Arco. Iris’s parents live in the city during the week, while Iris and her baby brother, Peter, are looked after by a likeable robot called Mikki (Mark Ruffalo and Natalie Portman). Iris takes Arco home to look after him, but his presence causes a lot of problems because Mikki keeps trying to find his parents.
Arco wants to go home but travelling back to his time and family proves much more difficult than he realises. Arco and Iris encounter many dangers as they try to find a way home for Arco.
Themes
Science fiction; fantasy; time travel
Violence
Arco has some violence. For example:
- Arco crash-lands on Earth. He wobbles about and collapses on the ground. He has blood on his face.
- Arco threatens Mikki with a spade.
- Three brothers are tracking Arco. They threaten each other and hurl mild insults.
- Arco makes several attempts to launch into flight from Iris’s roof, but he crashes to the ground each time.
- The 3 brothers drive straight into a police blockade and the police chase after them. Their van rolls down a hillside, crashing through trees and the windscreen shatters.
- One of the brothers knocks out a guard with a broom and throws things at them.
- Arco and Iris almost vanish into space, but their combined weight is too heavy and they fall back to Earth.
Sexual references
Arco has some sexual references. For example, Iris kisses Arco when he finally leaves.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
There’s no use of substances in Arco.
Nudity and sexual activity
There’s no nudity or sexual activity in Arco.
Product placement
There’s no product placement in Arco.
Coarse language
There are some mild coarse language and insults in Arco, including ‘shut up’, ‘stupid’ and ‘shoot’.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Arco is an award-winning French animation, which has great creative content. It presents an idyllic vision of future, in which humans live peacefully in the clouds. It does, however, have some very scary scenes and violence, which means it’s unsuitable for children aged under 10 years. It’s best suited to families with older children and teenagers.
These are the main messages from Arco:
- The best thing you can want for someone you love is happiness.
- The way we look after the Earth will affect future generations.
Values in Arco that you could reinforce with your children include compassion, empathy, teamwork, selflessness and courage.
Arco could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of things like disobeying the rules. For example, Arco disobeys the rules of his time, and the consequences of his actions are far reaching. You could about why we have rules in the first place.