‘Orion and the Dark’ Wants Kids to Overcome Fear

On the surface, Orion (Jacob Tremblay; The Little Mermaid) is your average fifth grader. He’s shy, blends in with the scene, and has a secret crush on a classmate. Underneath it all, he’s riddled with anxiety and irrational fears. Yes, all kids — and adults — are afraid of something, but Orion seems to be afraid of everything. He has what one would refer to as irrational fears. Yes, he’s scared of bees and dogs, which many people are. But, he’s also afraid of the ocean and cell phone waves, which, again, one could make a case for. Then, he’s afraid of murderous gutter clowns, along with anyone who has seen Stephen King’s IT. He’s also afraid of hypothetical scenarios like accidentally flooding the school bathroom. The fear that soars to the top of Orion’s scary list is the dark, which Orion has to confront nightly. 

One night, Orion meets the embodiment of Dark (Paul Walter Hauser; Black Bird). Dark offers to take Orion out for a literal night on the town to help Orion understand that the dark is nothing to fear. Orion reluctantly agrees and is whisked on an adventure around the globe where he also meets Dark’s colleagues: Quiet (Aparna Nancherla), Sleep (Natasia Demetriou), Insomnia (Nat Faxon), Unexplained Noises (Golda Rosheuvel; Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story), and Dreams (Angela Bassett; Wendell & Wild). 

Adapted from the children’s book by Emma Yarlett, Orion and the Dark is very relatable for both children and adults. It’s not hard to imagine the amount of fun one could have if one weren’t paralyzed by the fear of “What if?”. Healthy fear is a good form of protection, but in Orion’s case, fear kept him from enjoying what should be significant moments in his life. 

The worldbuilding is the stuff sweet dreams are made of. Riding through the night on Dark’s back looks as fun as one would imagine. It would’ve been great if the film had allowed us to see more of Dark and his colleagues at work.

As the film goes on, the tone shifts, and the story starts to fall apart. It’s almost as if the film didn’t want to be formulaic, so it took an unnecessary detour at the end to ensure the comparisons to other films like Inside Out would be avoided. Unfortunately, those comparisons will still be made considering the character similarities and the vast differences in how each story concluded. 

I expected the dialogue in the film, written by Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), to be a little better. In a movie that surrounds not letting fear and anxiety hinder your life so you can start enjoying it, the story seemed to lack emotionality.  The idea that some things are only scary because they are misunderstood is a point that could’ve been driven home more poignantly.

In the end, Orion and the Dark is a cute animated film that’ll surely keep kids entertained for at least most of the film. It might even get your little ones excited for bedtime in anticipation of sweet dreams filled with night adventures. But, the film’s story begins to unravel as it goes on and ends in a highly anticlimactic and somewhat zany way. Still, it’s worth watching, especially for your average scaredy cat.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars