Here’s a film that clearly doesn’t belong to our era. You have to go a very long way these days to find a film that’s positive about the future. And while you might say that optimism is completely out-of-place and anathema to the world we inhabit.
Hold up.
I won’t ask you to say it; I’ll just say it: At this junction in time, optimism about humanity’s collective future is completely out-of-place and anathema to the world we inhabit. Of course, you should know that I’m American and we have to deal with President Trump until 2029, should he live that long … and if he does, there’s no way he’s accepting the notion of term limits.
And to be clear: President Trump makes the world a worse place every.single.day. President Trump makes the world a worse place every.single.time he opens his mouth. I think you have to be well into the Kool-aid to deny those statements. But the film today is not about President Trump, not directly, at least. It is about three distant but interconnected stories about the history of humankind.
Movie 1: Dude, Where’s My Carnivore? A prehistoric family in Vancouver battles illness, elements and the fact that ice hockey still nearly 50,000 years from invention. The parents take turns at death’s door while biding their time with whistles and cave drawings – yeah, but is it art? Oh, and there’s an acorn.
Movie II: Encino Man/Woman? A modern paleontologist (Rashida Jones) gets depressed a lot. And 
maybe is pregnant. There’s that acorn again.
Movie III: Aliens Abduct Kate McKinnon Like, for Real? Ok, aliens don’t abduct Kate McKinnon, but I can’t help thinking of my favorite SNL sketch of all time when they show Kate McKinnon in space. She’s an astronaut and a botanist and … she is immortal? And there’s an acorn.
All three of these stories are about propagation of species. The latter is the most clinical one, but the theme is “humans survive,” which is a pretty darn optimistic theme in Trump’s America. I have no idea where director Andrew Stanton gets off being that optimistic, but, hey, I’ll allow it. Not every take on the future has to be an awful dystopia that clearly mirrors our own awful dystopia. It just makes sense that they do.
None of the films are bad; none of the films are wonderful. This is a very middling film that avoided theaters for good reason. I’m giving it a pass for novelty, but I’m 100% sure I’d eviscerate a sequel; so please don’t go there, fellas.
A caveman, scientist, and astronaut
Teach lessons we might have forgot
Life in our muck
Does not have to suck
And our future looks very rosy … not
Rated PG-13, 94 Minutes
Director: Andrew Stanton
Writer: Colby Day
Genre: Our screwed past, present, and future
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who want to be hopeful
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Cynics
