The Wild Robot is simply extraordinary.
Set in the wilderness, The Wild Robot tells the story of Rozim 7134 (Lupita Nyong’o)–aka Roz–a helper robot who lives to serve. However, when she first boots up, she finds herself lost in the wilderness, without any particular orders to follow. But this begins to change though when she meets Brightbill (Kit Connor), an orphaned gosling in need of care. Despite Roz’s protests, Brightbill quickly connects with the bot and she decides to take responsibility for him. Even so, as Brightbill gets older and yearns to fly with the flock, Roz must truly challenge herself in order to help get her adopted son the help that he needs.
As Roz, Nyong’o manages to weaves a growing empathy to the otherwise cool and collected bot. Beginning her journey with the goal of ‘completing projects’, Roz is entirely task-oriented. But her connection with Brightbill begins to adjust her programming. With each moment of life that passes, Nyong’o brings increasing emotion and warmth into her performance.
Admittedly, there is far more to this story than one might expect from the trailer. When an unexpected visitor arrives, Wild Robot turns… well… increasingly wild. As a result, there will be some who believe that this is a story about preserving the environment or even the glut of capitalism. Certainly, there are aspects of these topics that are embedded within the film that are worthy of note.
But let it be said that they are not the true heartbeat of this particular piece. Instead, what makes The Wild Robot exceptional is its willingness to sit within the messiness and madness of parenting with eyes of grace and beauty. Simply put, this is one of the best animated films of the year and deserves to be seen on the big screen.
The Wild Robot is playing at TIFF ’24. For more information, click here.
