For my entire life, artists have given us glances of the future. Sometimes optimistic, often dystopian, frequently metallic. One thing I didn’t bet on was clown costumes. And I’m telling you right now that if the price of time travel is “you have to wear a clown costume,” I’m thinking that’s too tall an ask. I can live without time travel, thank you.
Iris is just your average girl growing up in 2075. Actually, I have no idea if she’s average or not, cuz we only meet one of her peers, and he follows her around like a love-sick puppy. What Iris has is a genuine baby brother, two hologram parents and a robot nanny. The parents are away on business, and for the love of Megalopolis, fifty years from now, can’t we figure out how to keep at least one (1) at home to raise the children? Apparently not. So, instead, these guys do hologram parenting thing while the cool robot does all the heavy lifting.
Meanwhile, some dude in a clown suit arrives via rainbow. That’s Arco. He’s from 2932. And it takes less than thirty seconds of screen time for Arco to have a pursuit. You see, three middle-aged men who have decided to dress themselves as futuristic crayons need to prove to themselves that rainbow boy is a time traveler. So, even though Iris finds Arco first and stows him away, there is never a moment in Arco’s 2075 stay where he is not being pursued. The only question at the moment is whether these conspiracy theory idiots are dangerous. They’re not, thankfully.
Arco himself is truly stunned by the innovations of 2075, which strikes me as “Whaaaaa?” I mean, if I were sent back to the time of the Magna Carta, I just can’t see myself gawking and gaggling. I mean, maybe I’d be like, “Whoa! Check out that drawbridge!” But, odds are you couldn’t show me something where I’d be fascinated by the technology. And, yet, Arco behaves like a 2025 child going to 2075, nit a 2932 child traveling backwards. Oh well. I’m also a little put off by “yes, I get the part where houses now all exist in individual safety bubbles, but if 2075 has this kind of universal safety tech, why hasn’t it figured out how to end forest fires entirely?”
I guess I just don’t get the future. Speaking of which, I don’t think Arco does either. I suppose time travelling by mistake is a thing, but then how did he know to put on the
clown costume? Does he just like wearing clown costumes, when *poof* traveled back in time *oops!*?
Arco is kinda what happens if you made the entirety of E.T. about the chase scene. It is very limited in scope, especially for a film so hot to tell us about the future, but the chase makes the film worth seeing and Iris and robot are just likable enough not to screw it up. Certainly not a strong recommendation here, but I liked Arco more than I didn’t.
There once was a time traveler named Arco
Who visited an age of dark-o
Idiots took pursuit
So his brand new recruit
Hopefully wouldn’t rat on him like a narc-o
Rated PG, 88 Minutes
Director: Ugo Bienvenu, Gilles Cazaux
Writer: Ugo Bienvenu, Félix de Givry
Genre: Our screwed future
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Those fascinated with the future
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: “Any thoughts *about* the future other than what it might look like? No? Ok”
