The Wild Robot

The Wild Robot

Within the last week would have been my mother’s birthday, and a few days before that was the anniversary of her death four years ago. Watching a film about a robot learning to be a mother was not on the cards. But then, often, neither is parenthood. For my part, I have avoided kids for a specific reason: the duty of care; even when I worked in education, I wanted to just be there with adults who wanted to be there…I don’t work in education anymore.

The story of Ros and Brightbeak is one on a fundamental level you may have seen before. It’s a boy, and it’s a dinosaur and so on. But it isn’t. That is no reverse jungle book. This is a genuine exploration beyond rearing and about community. It takes a village to raise a child, and when you are alone, with no community immediate to you, it’s also about migration, both as a plot and as our lives go. The subtext of cultural gaps and generational ones leaves Brightbeak feeling he is neither fish nor fowl. At that moment, he realises he is not like the others—nature vs nurture. When the village turns its back…a child can feel so very cold.

But it’s done with lush details, humour, and colour. My mother was very young when she arrived in England, a teenager. My father was a young man in education. And here comes the fox himself. 

But within the island, we see a rich tapestry of characters and the hierarchy. It’s about programming and evolution while creatures exist with their own needs. Matt Berry especially has a fantastic beaver that has to be seen to be believed and heard. 

But the film doesn’t just end when a bright beak spreads its wings. It’s filled with humour, some of which is quite sharp and had me gasping at some points. The film’s innuendos and pointed commentary, especially on AI and authenticity as a commodity, are unexpected in a CGI fest, but they add a layer of intellectual stimulation to the entertainment.

I’m sure there are a lot of folks who can talk about the effects of fire, water, and fur. Good for them. But this is a story that creates an iron giant for Gen Sigma. I happened to be at the screening by accident, getting the day wrong. A bunch of little things meant I was watching this while a mother and child were in the back row. He loved it. You could tell it was bonding. 

For everyone. See the film as soon as you can