Last year’s surprising nominee for best animated film, Robot dreamsis finally available on streaming. So now you too have the chance to have your heart broken into a million little pieces by the world’s most endearing dog-robot best friend duo.
Despite the deceptively simple setup and cartoonish visual style, Robot dreams covers some brilliantly understated but deeply emotional themes. And director Pablo Berger—who was so moved by the graphic novel that he wanted to learn how to make an animated film just to adapt it—doesn’t shy away from the full impact of the story’s ending.
Robot dreams is set in a world full of anthropomorphic animals, where lonely Dog decides to order a robot friend. He builds the robot and the two form a close friendship, spending an idyllic summer together and jamming to Earth, Wind & Fire’s ‘September’. But a day at the beach ends when Robot is too rusty to move – and when Dog returns the next day, he discovers the beach is closed for the summer.
The rest of the film sees Dog’s attempts to bring Robot back, while also trying to form other meaningful relationships in his life. Meanwhile, Robot is stuck on the beach and has visions of escape (and can’t do anything when other animals come to destroy his parts).
One of the things that makes that Robot dreams What is so special is that there is no dialogue during the entire film. All the emotions and depth of relationships are conveyed through the characters’ actions and their suggestive facial expressions and body language. And considering the main characters are a simply drawn dog and robot, it’s a testament to how skilled the cartoons are that the film evokes such big and nuanced emotions – especially with the ending.
(Ed. remark: This post contains ending spoilers for Robot dreams.)
Towards the end of Robot dreamsRobot is rescued and restored by a raccoon named Rascal. Dog similarly purchased a new robot named Tin. Their paths have diverged so much that even when they were… Doing have the chance to bridge that gap and reunite, they both individually decide not to.
There are a few misdirects and near-connections: Robot sees Dog walking down the street and dreams of a whole reunion, for example, before that meeting is revealed to be just a dream; Dog sees something could out of the corner of his eye he’s a Robot, but doesn’t make any move to check again. It’s almost a little frustrating, because there are a lot of almosts and not-quites. While that may be frustrating for the audience, it works very well to emphasize the fears that the characters are feeling at that moment.
But then Robot presses play on his boombox, and their A song plays – ‘September’ by Earth, Wind & Fire – and they dance along with their current companions, together again spiritually, even if they are not physically.
It is painfully moving, a reflection on the people we meet at very specific moments in our lives and who shape us deeply. But it is also specifically about those friends with whom, for whatever reason, we can no longer connect. Berger doesn’t go into the details of why, and for the better, because that makes the theme of old friends drifting apart more universal. There are plenty of reasons why someone wouldn’t seek out an old friend after a while – fear, divergent life paths, a completely new perspective – but it ultimately comes down to the individual.
Berger leaves that ambiguous and instead focuses on the impact these two individuals had on each other and how that continues to influence them to this day. Dog and Robot still hear ‘September’ and dance, just as they once did, even though they don’t consciously dance together. Their last dance is a bit of a farewell, but it is not completely sad.
It reminds us that no matter what happens with these impactful friendships, they always leave us with something to move on from. And sharing that with a new partner does not detract from the previous relationship; If anything, it’s yet another way to honor that old friendship and transfer it to a new form.
Robot dreams is now streaming on Hulu.