From DreamWorks Animation comes Orion and the Dark, a new animated movie based on the children’s book of the same name by Emma Yarlett. Sean Charmatz serves as director, (with this being his directorial debut), and with Charlie Kaufman as writer. It was announced last June that the movie would be coming to Netflix only, sparking much debate online as to why there would not be a theatrical release. Some believed it was due to Dreamworks already having 2 other films slated for release in 2024 (the more anticipated Kung-Fu Panda 4 and the recently revealed The Wild Robot) but there hasn’t been an official confirmation of that from Dreamworks. The film quietly premiered on Netflix on February 2nd.

The story follows Orion (voiced by Jacob Tremblay), a seemingly normal kid who in fact is afraid of just about everything. His fears vary from reasonable to ridiculous, such as being afraid to talk to girls, or of flooding the entire school by using the toilet. While some of the viewers might relate to a few of his phobias, most of them are played more as gags, though they are portrayed as serious business to Orion. Some of his fears also get a bit too dark (no pun intended), even dealing with death. But, out of everything it seems Orion fears darkness the most. He confronts this fear every night, and never really has gotten over it.

Dark itself visits him one night, or rather, an anthropomorphic entity representing the Dark, who sort of strikes back, having had enough of Orion constantly complaining and being afraid of him. Dark (voiced by Paul Walter Hauser) attempts to show Orion there’s really nothing to fear in the dark, and that he’s not that bad of a guy. Orion reluctantly agrees, as he wishes he could someday overcome his fears, and the two embark on a journey through the night.

During their journey Orion also encounters other night entities, such as Sweet Dreams (voiced by Angela Bassett), Sleep (Natasia Demetriou), Unexplained Noises (Golda Rosheuvel), Insomnia (Nat Faxon) and Quiet (Aparna Nancherla), all of them playing significant roles in helping people sleep and keeping a balance in the world. There are some pretty creative scenes showing us how each of this entity does its job, such as Sleep putting people to sleep using some seemingly unorthodox methods, or Sweet Dreams helping people have a pleasant night’s sleep. Orion initially gets in their way but eventually understands more and actually assists them with some more unique cases. Orion does seem to start to open up a bit more and not be as terrified of the dark as he was just a few hours earlier.

The interactions between the characters are pretty entertaining, with Orion and Dark’s scenes having the most screen time and probably being the most effective, too. The writing is also good and while there are some more philosophical elements sprinkled throughout, it is still rather fun and I believe kids would still enjoy this for the most part, without feeling confused or just bored by it all.

The movie follows the trend of not having an actual villain for the story, although it features Light (voiced by Ike Barinholtz), whom Dark considers his arch enemy, considering he’s his opposite and would cause him to disappear if they came into contact with each other. A more unique play on the Light and Darkness contrast that is present just about everywhere, and I mean in real life as well, not just fiction. The story also does a rather good job at depicting just how awkward and downright dangerous the world would be if this delicate balance is broken, resulting in a world without sleep.

As usual, spoilers will be kept to a minimum, but I will mention the movie does tackle a few different periods, not just the “present” time line of Orion and Dark’s adventures through the night. There are a couple of glimpses into the future, showing us how this experience might have affected Orion. Things can get a bit crazy by the end, but it’s still fun and engaging enough, with some emotional bits and a pretty nice message of facing your fears and living your life, it’s all delivered just fine.

The voice acting is adequate, the stars featured here aren’t too big names in the industry (other than Angela Bassett and maybe Jacob Tremblay), but they all do fine jobs with their respective characters. There have been a few stunt casting that paid off really well in the past, but it is nice seeing more movies feature lesser known actors, or just voice actors really, instead of big celebrities, hoping to attract more viewers. As far as the animation goes, the movie looks good and there’s some fluid animation in there used to depict the abilities each character has, or to bring some of Orion’s exaggerated fears to life. The backgrounds also look nice, and work well to depict the movie’s surreal settings.

Overall, Orion and the Dark is a more experimental movie, at least when compared to other recent animated films, and other DreamWorks projects. It’s still entertaining enough, and kids, as well as perhaps some adults, could find something to like about it. All this makes for a pretty unique experience.

Orion and the Dark is currently available to stream on Netflix.

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