‘Horribly funny’: Why The Mitchells vs the Machines is my feel-good movie | Animation in the movie

AAnimation is a great way to let you experience the world through someone else’s eyes, complete with the color, energy, imagination and chaos that this can bring. This is true whether you’re looking at the world from the perspective of a frustrated, gifted teenage girl, or from the perspective of a megalomaniacal rogue AI who dreams of blasting every human on Earth into space in tiny hexagonal capsules (with free Wi-Fi!). This is the chaotic, exciting mix of styles that fuels the riot of animated road trip The Mitchells vs the Machines, a film that crams father-daughter conflict, technological apocalypse, Olivia Colman, and every color of the rainbow into a burnt-orange 1993 station wagon.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller produce with the same energetic approach that distinguished films like The Lego Movie and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It’s then balanced by Gravity Falls’ Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe, who complement the delights with a subtle, sweet, heartfelt story, making it more than just a superficial display of art. “Mitchells vs the Machines” is not just a story about the relationships people have with each other, but the ones that connect us to technology and our past.

The film doesn’t explicitly take the “kids are right, adults are out of touch” attitude, an attitude that can seem as archaic as dial-up Internet access. There is more balance here. The film encourages you to see things from the perspective of both Katie and her father Rick (voiced by Abbi Jacobson and Danny McBride, respectively), without unconditionally favoring one over the other and allowing both to see how they don’t acknowledge the full picture. Rick can’t reckon with his daughter’s emotions and concerns, while Katie doesn’t understand what her father sacrificed to ensure his family had the life they deserved.

This is the reality of family, or at least the reality of what family can be: a messy, loving, and often stubborn journey of care and compromise. Family is at the heart of The Mitchells vs the Machines – as the end credits poignantly make clear – and they provide real emotional detail, including subtle inclusions of both queerness and neurodiversity, which helps the film feel like a creation born out of the reality of our lives rather than something more complex and parochial. Given the subject matter of the film, it’s a fitting way to show how movies can have soul in a way that technology simply can’t.

But this depth is only half the story. First and foremost, The Mitchells vs the Machines is very funny; A high-octane adventure that combines 3D animation with splashes of hand-drawn and even live-action elements to create a stunning set on screen. This energetic nightmare is complete with violent humanoid robots, sentient kitchen utensils, and Furbies who happily attempt mass murder (shocking to all but those who have ever owned one of those fluffy spherical demons). And Coleman shines, enjoying one of the most enjoyable roles of her career as Pal the evil AI. Pal and her robotic henchmen get some of the biggest laughs in the entire film, with jokes ranging from visual gags to unexpected one-liners.

It’s also rare to see a film that approaches technology and the Internet with equal parts awe and skepticism, carrying a clear warning without also shying away from celebrating what else they have to offer. Concerns about the spread of artificial intelligence and technology have been growing since 2021, which may make it unsurprising that there is now a sequel on the way. Because if artificial intelligence is truly here to stay, films like The Mitchells vs the Machines remind us of the technology’s enormous potential while staying focused on what really matters.