‘Arco’ Final Trailer: The French Animated Oscar Hopeful Reaches for the Sky

Produced by Natalie Portman, the film from first-time director Ugo Bienvenu follows the adventures of a time-traveling young boy and the friends (and robots) he meets along his journey.

The final trailer for “Arco,” one of the main contenders for the Best Animated Feature film at the Oscars this year, has arrived.

Directed by first-time feature filmmaker Ugo Bienvenu and produced by Natalie Portman, “Arco” is a French film that takes visual inspiration from Studio Ghibli, with a blend between hand-drawn and CG animation. The trailer, soundtracked by a lilting piano melody, reveals the basic premise of the film, which focuses on a young boy named Arco from a distant and peaceful future, where humans live in the sky and use rainbow suits to fly through the air.

When he disobeys his parents and goes on a flight by himself, Arco winds up in the slightly more contemporary world of 2075, where humanity still lives on the ground, but has robots and other advanced technology and is contending with encroaching threats of climate change. There, he meets a girl named Iris, and sets out on a journey to find a way back to his own time.

“Arco” made its world premiere at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in May, where it played in the festival’s Special Screenings section. The movie received positive reviews from critics out of the festival; writing for IndieWire, Christian Blauvelt gave the film a “B-” and called it an “emotional sci-fi epic.” The film additionally won the Cristal Award for Best Feature Film at the 2025 Annecy Film Festival, and also played at the Animation is Film Festival in Los Angeles.

For its American release, the film will screen with an English dub that first premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Child actors Romy Fay and Juliano Valdi voice Iris and Arco in the English version, while additional cast members include Portman, Will Ferrell, America Ferrera, Flea, Mark Ruffalo, and Andy Samberg. The original French version of the film included several prominent French film stars including Swann Arlaud of “Anatomy of a Fall” and Louis Garrel from “Little Women.”

Neon will release “Arco” in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Friday, November 14. Watch the trailer for the film below.