A Feel Good Flick From the Worst Family Ever

(Trailer from Netflix YT channel)

Let me start off by saying: "Thank you weird humans and, HOLY FORKING SHIRTBALLS THIS WAS SO GOOD". I have no idea why I put this one off for so long BUT OH MY GOD. I have to give major props for the animation, reminds me a lot of Spider-verse and I'm totally in love with this style, feels so much more organic and lively compared to the usual default 3D CGI. I think I might be obsessing over it for a while now, probably going to have to find some videos on how they did it but I'm making bets that it’s a very similar process to spider verse. The colors are mind bogglingly delicious, like every frame is dynamic. If "Encanto" was colorful, this movie just takes it to a whole new level.

(The movie's official soundtrack lyric video from the artist's YouTube channel)

Next, the soundtrack was amazeballs. The scores hit when it needed to, especially during those camcorder scenes of Katie and Rick. I was extremely worried this would be majorly … painful to get through because of all the technology but the movie doesn’t step out of its bounds and stays incredibly realistic.

(The movie's music video by Tomorrow Man

No cringey “teen talk” or internet slang except when needed. I think this movie is going to age far better than other tech focused movies because of that. The humor is so scrumptious, with the right emotional beats. I loved the constant references to other movies and film jokes. so much fun to point out and recognize. I have to admit some parts of the movie do seem a bit contrived, but I like the planning, the solutions to some of the problems didn’t seem completely out of thin air but I do like that everything ties in together nicely, especially with that wooden moose thing that Katie got from Rick. Monchi’s use against the robots is sort of a deus ex machina… dog ex machina? Whatever. Still fun.

(The movie's end credits from Omoniyi Adenusi's YT Channel)

Aaron’s hilarious, Katie is, literally me, but … I’m totally not biased. I love a “quirky young teenage hero”. Love that she’s queer and it’s CANON. Needed that kind of rep honestly. Linda is so amazing, and Rick is… my dad. the Mitchells are literally my family minus Aaron. But God they’re such lovable characters and you don’t have to side with any of them throughout the story, they’re just human.

(Top photo: Yours truly with movie director Mike Rianda. Bottom photo: with the director's wife, artist Molly Segal)

When a movie can make me cry three times, spaced out, and all of a sudden, while also having the scariest furby scene in cinematic history, I have to say it’s one of my all-time favorites. It’s so clear that it’s a passion project and I want to make something like this someday. I will definitely be revisiting this one a lot. Honestly? my favorite out of the Oscar 2022 nominees, but I'm going to have to watch flee to really confirm that.

(Official movie poster by Netflix)