Story

Orion is afraid of just about everything. He fears talking to girls and falling off skyscrapers. He fears bees, haircuts, field trips, PE and bullies. But the thing he fears most of all is the dark.

One fateful night, Dark (voice of Paul Walter Hauser) appears in his bedroom. Dark is the embodiment of Orion’s fears, but he’s also frustrated, misunderstood and tired of being hated and feared. To prove that he’s actually a nice guy, Dark whisks off Orion to show him what he does at night and how there’s nothing to be scared of. Along the way, Dark introduces Orion to other night elements, including Sleep (voice of Natasia Demetriou), Sweet Dreams (voice of Angela Bassett), Quiet (voice of Aparna Nancheria), Unexplained Noises (voice of Golda Rosheuvel) and Insomnia (voice of Nat Faxon).

During the evening, Orion inadvertently causes havoc with the workings of the other elements, disrupting dreams and criticising their methods. But nothing wreaks more havoc than Orion’s insights about light and how wonderful it is. Frustrated by how things have gone and betrayed by their lack of understanding of light, the other elements quit working with Dark and decide to try living in the daytime instead.

Dark, feeling alone and defeated, allows himself to be overtaken by Light (voice of Ike Barinhotz) and he disappears from the world. The world itself is then thrown into chaos – people are too hot, plants are dying and no-one can sleep. Orion has no idea what to do or how to fix it. Luckily his daughter Hypatia (voice of Mia Akemi Brown), to whom he is telling the story, knows exactly what to do and she joins the childhood version of her father on his quest to save the world by reuniting the night-time elements and bringing Dark back.

Themes

Insecurities; facing your fears; crippling anxiety; negative self-perception

Violence

Orion and the Dark has some violence. For example:

• There are illustrated images of Orion’s fears. These include murderous clowns holding knives, mosquitos attacking him, his limbs falling off, him falling off buildings and bullies picking on him.
• Orion draws a bully dead on the ground after he imagines punching the boy in the head so hard that his nose goes into his brain and he dies.
• Orion imagines that he and his classmates are riding in a school bus, which catches fire and burns them alive.
• Orion imagines his entire class being crushed by large planets at a planetarium.
• Orion describes his fears of dying and his belief that when you die there’s nothing.
• Orion is accosted by a bully in the locker room at school. The bully makes fun of Orion and threatens him.
• Sleep smothers a man with a pillow and then kisses him goodnight. He chloroforms a woman to get her to sleep and is just about to hit a baby with a sleep hammer when Orion intervenes.
• Insomnia whispers worrying things into people’s ears and reminds them of their deepest fears.
• A giant, evil cucumber in a dentist office attacks a woman in her dreams.
• In a dreamscape, a giant bully tries to squash and crush Orion. The bully grabs Sweet Dreams and Dark and locks them in a cabinet while he goes after Orion, trying to stomp on him. Eventually he grabs Orion and holds him over a filthy toilet bowl, clearly intent on flushing him away. The toilet sprays water into the bully’s face and a force sucks the bully into a door. Orion is nearly sucked in too, but Dark saves him just in time.
• Two characters shove each other against cars.
• Dark is sucked into a cupboard and then into a deep, dark hole.
• Drawings of bees and jellyfish come to life as Orion fights to keep holding on to Dark.
• Hypatia and a character from the future fight and shoot some interdimensional time monsters. Pieces of their broken bodies litter Orion’s lawn.

Sexual references

There are no sexual references in Orion and the Dark.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

There’s no use of substances in Orion and the Dark.

Nudity and sexual activity

There’s no nudity or sexual activity in Orion and the Dark.

Product placement

There’s no product placement in Orion and the Dark.

Coarse language

Orion and the Dark has some coarse language and insults, including ‘hell’, ‘heck’, ‘butt’, ‘jerk’, ‘stupid’, ‘idiot’ and ‘screwing everything up’.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Orion and the Dark is an animated adventure about overcoming your fears and writing your own story. The movie features well-developed characters, interesting dialogue and numerous plot twists. It’s a family movie, which all but the youngest children can enjoy.

These are the main messages from Orion and the Dark:

• Fear is a natural emotion and a part of life.
• It’s OK to be fearful, but it’s important to face your fears and not let them determine your destiny.
• It’s important to find your inner worth and to know your true value, regardless of how others perceive you.

Values in Orion and the Dark that you could reinforce with your children include courage, friendship, optimism, helpfulness and unity.

Orion and the Dark could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of things like:

• letting fear of the unknown stop you from trying something that you want to do
• listening to the internal voices that whisper, ‘You can’t do that’ or ‘You’re not good enough’
• minimising your own value or forgetting the important role that you play in the world.