ROBOT DREAMS
Starring: Ivan Labanda
Director: Pablo Berger
ADRIANO
There is something to admire about the simple existence of Robot Dreams. An animated movie about the friendship between a robot and a dog that is told entirely with no dialogue feels like a relic of the past, and yet here it is. The animation is colourful and enticing throughout, while the themes of loneliness and the human desire to reach out make for an endearing watch. Unfortunately, while the movie feels like a short film stretched to feature length due to increasingly repetitive subplots that could have easily been removed, the final scene alone makes the experience worth it.
AMARÚ
Robot Dreams more than deserved the Oscar nomination it received at this year’s ceremony. Even more than five months after I initially saw it, the emotions it evokes from a dog and a robot still lowkey haunt me to this day. Not a scary or saddening haunting, but more of a bittersweet acceptance. With almost no dialogue, director Pablo Berger deftly utilizes music (shout out to Earth, Wind, and Fire), ambient noise, facial expressions, and anthropomorphic sounds to relay deeply felt themes of companionship, lost love, and new life that universally resonate. It’s a triumph of the heart and soul.
This film was reviewed by Adriano as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.