"Arco. A Journey Through Time," an animated film by French director Ugo Bienvenu, opens in Ukrainian cinemas on August 13, 2026, according to distributor Arthouse Traffic and news agency UNIAN. Known internationally simply as "Arco," the film had its world premiere in the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival, one of the most prestigious events in world cinema, before a limited Ukrainian audience saw it at the 13th Children Kinofest.
Since Cannes, "Arco" has become one of the most talked-about animated releases of the year and has gone on to screen at the Locarno and Toronto film festivals.
Top prize at Annecy
The film's biggest win came at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France, widely regarded as the world's leading event dedicated to animated cinema, where "Arco" took the Cristal award for best feature film. It went on to receive a European Film Academy award for 2026 and earned nominations for the Oscar, the Golden Globe and the BAFTA.
A boy who fell from the sky
The story is set in 2075, when Earth is in the grip of a severe ecological crisis. People live in houses under domes, and children are raised by robots because their parents are permanently occupied.
One day a girl named Iris finds a boy in a glowing rainbow cloak who has fallen from the sky. His name is Arco, and he has come from a distant future where people live in houses in the sky and travel through time along rainbows. Iris decides to help him get home, but there is little time to lose, as strange pursuers are already searching for Arco.
Echoes of Miyazaki and Spielberg
Children are likely to see it as an adventure story, while adults may read it as a fantastical parable. The filmmakers do not hide their debt to Hayao Miyazaki, the Japanese director behind "My Neighbor Totoro," "Ponyo" and "Kiki's Delivery Service," and the plot echoes classic tales of friendship such as Steven Spielberg's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" and "Peter Pan."
Critics at The New York Times described the mix as something between the work of Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation house co-founded by Miyazaki, and "Interstellar," combining fairy-tale motifs with science fiction.
A stand for hand-drawn animation
At a time when computer-generated imagery dominates the industry, Bienvenu chose to work in traditional style. "Arco" was made entirely using classical 2D hand-drawn animation.
According to the director, it is the only technique able to truly preserve the warm, living plasticity a fairy tale needs. The film's visual style draws directly on the graphic work of the French artists Jean Giraud, known as Moebius, and Rene Laloux, and several scenes resemble individual illustrations.
Portman, Becker and Toulon
Actress Natalie Portman produced the film and also lends her voice to one of the characters in the English-language version.
Sound design was handled by Nicolas Becker, an Oscar winner known for his work on "Sound of Metal," "Gravity," "Arrival" and "Ex Machina." The score was written by composer Arno Toulon, who received a special award from SACEM, the French society of authors, composers and music publishers, for his work on the film.
Critical reception
Critics and audiences have responded warmly to "Arco." On Rotten Tomatoes, the review aggregator, the film holds a 93% approval rating with the site's Certified Fresh distinction. On Metacritic it scores 72 out of 100, while audience ratings stand at 7.3 on IMDb and 3.9 on Letterboxd.
Empire magazine summed it up as European independent animation that, following "Flow," shows Hollywood how it should be done, while Little White Lies called it exquisite, distinctive and whimsical.
