"Orion and the Dark" is a dream come true. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’ll be examining the latest thought-provoking animated movie to come our way - “Orion and the Dark.”
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00:00 "I don't know how you keep making all this stuff up."
00:02 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we'll be examining
00:05 the latest thought-provoking animated movie to come our way,
00:09 Orion and the Dark.
00:10 If you have yet to see the Netflix fantasy film,
00:13 beware as this video contains something a lot scarier than the Dark.
00:17 Spoilers.
00:18 "Hello, I'm Dark. Ta-da!"
00:20 Based on the novel of the same name,
00:23 Orion and the Dark transcends conventional storytelling
00:26 by presenting a tale that not only inspires intellectual engagement,
00:30 but offers a plethora of emotional messages.
00:33 "Dark!"
00:36 It should also be noted that the film's screenplay was penned by
00:40 cinema auteur Charlie Kaufman,
00:42 as in the writer of such films as Being John Malkovich
00:45 and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
00:48 And like those works,
00:49 Orion and the Dark is layered with metaphor and meaning.
00:52 Plot.
00:53 The film follows Orion, a young boy grappling with
00:56 a laundry list of fears and anxieties.
00:58 "Page 14, for example. My fear of clogging the toilet
01:02 and flooding the whole entire school."
01:04 However, above falling-off skyscrapers and murderous gutter clowns
01:08 (we see he's been watching It),
01:10 Orion fears the Dark the most.
01:12 "Curse you, darkness!
01:14 What cruel aberrations hide within your inky cloak of darkness?"
01:19 But when the physical embodiment of his worst fear
01:21 pays our anxious hero a visit,
01:23 Orion embarks on a journey of self-discovery and unexpected friendships.
01:27 He's forced to face his fears and alter his perspectives,
01:30 for the better.
01:32 "Not scared of you."
01:32 "See? That's what I'm talking about."
01:36 Of course, Orion isn't the only member of his family
01:39 touched by this adventure,
01:40 but more on that later.
01:41 Central theme.
01:43 At the heart of Orion and the Dark lies the exploration of
01:46 confronting one's fears as a catalyst for personal growth.
01:49 "I can't just jump in there. What's gonna happen?"
01:51 "I have no idea, but I think that's the point."
01:56 The film expertly navigates the mindset of children,
01:58 and even portrays Orion's journey as a metaphor for the human experience.
02:03 In the end, our young protagonist must overcome
02:05 all of his anxieties to save his friend.
02:08 "Hang on, Gork! I'm coming!"
02:10 The story encourages its viewers to look inward
02:14 and embrace their own fears as opportunities for self-discovery.
02:18 After all, fear is a natural part of life.
02:20 "Oh, sweetie, what's wrong?"
02:22 "I got scared. I hate the Dark so much."
02:25 However, as Orion and others learn,
02:29 one doesn't need to go through it alone.
02:31 Family and friends will always be there to help.
02:33 "Maybe it's not such a good idea to put the fate of the world
02:36 in the hands of an 11-year-old kid with severe performance anxiety."
02:40 "Don't worry. I'll be right there with you."
02:42 Imagination.
02:43 Orion and the Dark is a movie bursting with imagination
02:46 and clever personifications.
02:48 Take, for instance, the Knight entities,
02:50 the physical embodiments of everything that brings the Knight to life.
02:54 "You're gonna love us. Heya, gang, what's up?"
02:56 "Heya, Dark!"
02:57 In addition to Dark, they include sleep, quiet, insomnia,
03:01 "Well, I'm pretty sure I'm getting fired."
03:03 "Huh?"
03:04 sweet dreams, and unexpected noises.
03:06 "I'm thinking this moment calls for a crunching sound,
03:09 with the tiniest hint of scraping."
03:14 The quirky characters go a long way in making sense of these
03:17 often unexplainable things.
03:19 The movie is also able to seamlessly integrate fantastical elements
03:23 with the challenges of the real world.
03:24 And by using young Orion's adventure as a bedtime story
03:27 within the film's larger picture,
03:29 it allows characters and viewers alike to reflect on the interplay
03:33 between imagination and reality in shaping one's perceptions.
03:36 "You nervous?"
03:37 "Terrified.
03:43 But I'm going anyway."
03:44 Generational Storytelling
03:46 One of the highlights of Orion and the Dark is its unique storytelling techniques.
03:50 "Dark has existed for over 500 million years,
03:54 since early life on Earth developed light-sensitive proteins."
03:59 Just when we think we're watching a straightforward story
04:03 about a young boy's existential journey,
04:05 the movie adds an intriguing layer.
04:08 We learn that this tale, about a young Orion facing his fears,
04:11 is in fact being told by an adult Orion to his daughter Hypatia,
04:15 in an effort to help her remedy her own anxieties.
04:18 "You're telling me a story about how you overcame your fear of the dark
04:21 to try and help me overcome my fear of the dark."
04:23 With ideas of her own, Hypatia inserts herself into the story
04:28 and goes on to play a key role in restoring harmony to the world.
04:31 The generational jumps don't end there, though,
04:34 as a later reveal shows the story is being relayed by an adult Hypatia
04:38 to her young son Tico, who has also added himself to the bedtime tale.
04:42 Who else was going to take out those pesky interdimensional time monsters?
04:46 These revelations make for fun twists,
04:52 but they also show how dread and fear are generational,
04:55 passed down from one to the next.
04:57 Relationships
04:59 The unexpected friendship that blossoms between Orion and the Dark
05:02 serves as a truly powerful symbol for the transformative nature
05:05 of relationships.
05:06 "No, my daughter's gonna love that we're becoming friends."
05:09 "I knew you'd start warming up to me.
05:12 Hold on, aren't you too young to have a daughter?"
05:14 "My future daughter."
05:15 It's through empathy and understanding that Orion eventually comes to embrace Dark,
05:20 realizing that he's not harmful, but is in fact quite the opposite.
05:24 Naturally, this resonates on a universal level,
05:27 bringing forth valuable lessons about compassion and acceptance.
05:30 The relationship between Orion and Sally is also special.
05:34 At the start of the film, Sally, Orion's crush,
05:37 asks if he'd like to sit with her during the school's
05:39 upcoming trip to the planetarium.
05:41 A petrified Orion couldn't even muster an answer
05:44 and tried to get out of the trip altogether.
05:46 "How'd that get there?"
05:47 "Your father found it stuffed under the couch."
05:50 "I think you mean in between the couch cushions."
05:53 But after the young boy took the steps needed to live a life free of debilitating fear,
05:58 he was able to go on the trip.
06:00 Heck, he would go on to marry Sally, have a child with her,
06:03 and grow old as a grandparent with her.
06:06 "Mind if I sit with you?"
06:07 "I would love that."
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06:35 Worldly Beauty
06:36 Another important message the film imparts revolves around hidden beauty.
06:40 Sometimes it's the parts of the world that we don't understand,
06:43 or are too afraid to look at, that are the most wondrous.
06:47 Dark lets Orion see all that the night has to offer,
06:50 from illuminating jellyfish to shining stars in the night sky.
06:53 "You'll see me in new ways. Ways that are even better."
06:58 "Yeah, I can see that now. And I can appreciate it."
07:01 Speaking of the latter, the planetarium featured in the movie stands as a special metaphor.
07:06 "These visible patterns amongst the stars came to be known as constellations."
07:12 This is the spot where Orion grew most comfortable
07:14 and would eventually work at later in life.
07:17 We see him take young Hypatia there too.
07:19 It's where he passes on various life ideals.
07:22 And hey, it's no coincidence that their names are linked to astrology.
07:25 Orion and the Dark shows us that sometimes all we need to do
07:28 to feel inspired is to just look up.
07:31 Ultimately, the movie is about accepting fear as a part of life,
07:35 and the shared bonds we make in our journey along the way.
07:38 Through a multi-layered story and plenty of emotional twists and turns,
07:41 Orion and the Dark can firmly be stacked alongside several other
07:45 nourishing family-friendly tales with themes around personal development.
07:48 "Open or closed?"
07:49 "Hmm, closed tonight."
07:51 "Okay. Sleep tight."
07:55 Like Where the Wild Things Are, Inside Out, and Soul,
07:58 Orion and the Dark uses a magical world of pure imagination
08:02 to help children understand how this crazy world works.
08:05 Plus, it gives them the tools on how to knock down the doors of existential dread,
08:09 with all the requisite charm and heart, of course.
08:11 "You're the best mommy ever!"
08:13 "That was one hell of a presentation, Irene."
08:16 So when it comes to choosing the next film for your kids,
08:20 or yourself, we say, don't be afraid of Orion.
08:23 "Is it too much stuff? Like, you're already traveling around the world
08:27 with magical knight entities, and now you can predict the future too?"
08:31 "Gilding the lily."
08:33 "I don't know what that means."
08:34 What parts of Orion and the Dark made you think the most?
08:37 Don't leave your thoughts in the dark, drop them in the comments below.
08:40 "Is this your latest attempt at trying to convince the world that you're not so bad?"
08:44 "Uh."
08:45 Do you agree with our picks?
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08:54 "I'm so excited to be here."
08:55 "I'm so excited to be here."
08:56 "I'm so excited to be here."
08:58 "I'm so excited to be here."
09:00 "I'm so excited to be here."
09:02 "I'm so excited to be here."
09:04 (upbeat music)