Last year's surprise nominee for Best Animated Film, Robot dreamsis finally available in streaming. Now you too have the chance to have your heart shattered into a million little pieces by the world's most adorable dog-robot best friend duo.
Despite its deceptively simple structure and cartoonish visual style Robot dreams covers some brilliantly understated but deeply emotional themes. And director Pablo Berger — who was so touched by the graphic novel that he set out to learn how to make an animated film just to adapt it — doesn't shy away from feeling the full impact of the story's ending.
Image: Neon
Robot dreams takes place in a world full of anthropomorphized animals where the lonely dog decides to summon a robot friend. He builds the robot and the two form a close friendship, spending an idyllic summer together and jamming “September” by Wind & Fire to Earth. But a day at the beach ends with Robot too rusty to move – and when Dog returns the next day, he learns that the beach is closed for the summer.
The rest of the film shows Dog's attempts to get Robot back while also trying to build other meaningful relationships in his life. Meanwhile, Robot is stuck on the beach and has ideas of escape (and is powerless to do anything when other animals come to scrap his parts).
One of the things that make Robot dreams The special thing about it is that there is no dialogue in the entire film. All emotions and the depth of relationships are conveyed through the characters' actions and their impressive facial expressions and body language. And considering that the main characters are a simply drawn dog and a robot, it's a testament to how skilled the animation is that the film evokes such large and nuanced emotions – especially with the ending.
[Ed. note: This post contains end spoilers for Robot Dreams.]
Until the end Robot dreamsRobot was rescued and restored by a raccoon named Rascal. Dog also bought a new robot named Tin. Their paths diverged so far that even when they Do Although they have the opportunity to overcome this divide and reunite, they both independently choose not to.
There are a few misdirections and near-connections: Robot sees Dog walking down the street and dreams of a full reunion, for example, before that meeting is revealed to be just a dream; Dog sees something could He's acting like a robot out of the corner of his eye, but makes no move to double check. It's almost a bit frustrating because there are a lot of almost and not quite statements. While this may be frustrating for the audience, it works very well to highlight the fears the characters are feeling at the moment.
But then Robot plays on his boombox, and her The song sounds – “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire – and the two dance with their current companions, spiritually together again, even if they are not physically there.
It is painfully poignant, a reflection on the people we meet at very specific points in our lives and who shape us deeply. But it's also specifically about the friends with whom we can no longer establish contact, for whatever reason. Berger doesn't elaborate on why, and for the better, because it makes the theme of old friends drifting apart more universal. There are many reasons why someone wouldn't seek out an old friend after a period of separation – fear, different paths in life, a completely new perspective – but ultimately it comes down to the individual.
Berger leaves this ambiguous and instead focuses on the influence these two individuals had on each other and how that continues to impact them today. The dog and robot still hear “September” and dance, just like they used to, even if they don’t consciously dance together. Their last dance is a bit of a farewell, but not entirely sad.
It's a reminder that no matter what happens, these influential friendships always leave us something to carry on. And sharing that with a new partner doesn't diminish the previous relationship; If anything, it's another way to honor that old friendship and bring it into a new form.
Robot dreams is now streaming on Hulu.
