Arco (film)
Arco is a 2025 animated science fantasy film written and directed by Ugo Bienvenu in his feature film directorial debut and co-produced by Natalie Portman. It stars Swann Arlaud, Alma Jodorowsky, Margot Ringard Oldra, Oscar Tresanini, Vincent Macaigne, Louis Garrel, William Lebghil, and Oxmo Puccino.
The film had its world premiere in the Special Screenings section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on 16 May. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Critics' Choice Awards, Golden Globe Awards and Academy Awards.
It was theatrically released in France on 22 October by Diaphana Distribution. Neon gave the film a week-long awards qualifying run in the United States on 14 November, followed by a limited theatrical release in Los Angeles and New York on 23 January 2026, and a nationwide release on 30 January.
Premise
Ten-year-old Arco, who lives in the year 2932, time-travels to the year 2075, where he meets Iris. His time-travel device is broken, and with her help he attempts to find a way to return to the future, while pursued by three conspiracy theorists determined to prove that Arco has travelled from the future.Production
Director Ugo Bienvenu developed the film visually based on his own sketches rather than a script. He used ten to twenty drawings as the skeleton of the film and refined it further from there. Bienvenu worked on storyboarding for three years, and Felix de Givry translated the images into a script. They self financed and hired three people to create a full length animatic which they then used to convince investors to back the film. After securing funding and thanks to the previously developed anamitic they were able to complete production to be completed in a little over a year. Bienvenu worked to balance the handcrafted look with the requirements of managing a team of 130-people.In May 2024, it was revealed that Natalie Portman, who also served as a producer on the film, had joined the cast for the English dub, which was written and directed by Bienvenu, and starring Oscar Tresanini, Margot Ringard Oldra, Alma Jodorowsky, Swann Arlaud, Vincent Macaigne, Louis Garrel, and Oxmo Puccino.
Release
Arco had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 16 May 2025. A few days later, Neon acquired North American distribution rights to the film.The film opened in the Locarno Kids section at the 78th Locarno Film Festival on 6 August 2025. The film was released in theaters across France on 22 October 2025. The film was given a week-long awards qualifying theatrical run in the United States on 14 November 2025. In December 2025, Neon announced that the film would be given a limited theatrical release in Los Angeles and New York on 23 January 2026, expanding nationwide a week later on 30 January.