The Cinematheque

“[A film of] ingenuity and bright-hued splendour … The key theme of Luca is the acquisition of knowledge—and the realization of how liberating, if painful, that knowledge can be.”

Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times

We’re kicking off another year of Film Club with a splash! Luca, a charming coming-of-age story from those animation juggernauts at Pixar, never played Vancouver theatres upon its original release—something we’re only too happy to correct. Fans of the Silicon Valley studio are sure to notice the roots of Finding Nemo and Monsters, Inc. in this fish-out-of-water tale, but Enrico Casarosa’s directorial debut comes with its own warm spirit of invention. Sheltered Luca (Vancouver’s own Jacob Tremblay) and self-assured Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer) have a metaphoric (and amphibious) under-the-skin secret: their identity as sea-dwellers is the very phobia shared among the harpooning townsfolk of Portorosso, the Italian Riviera outpost where the two kids make landfall. With new friend Giulia (Emma Berman), the squad sticks together to survive bullies, summer jobs, and a triathlon(!) while blending in with the ultra-detailed scenery.

Luca will be preceded by six short kaiju animations that were created for The Cinematheque’s Godzilla Stop-Motion Animation Contest held in October of 2023. 

“Where other Pixar entries want to knock your socks off, Luca drifts along on its gentle wavelength, examining the pain of being an outsider with compassion and light chuckles … An encouraging sign that [the studio’s] filmmakers are still willing to try new tones and moods.”

Tim Grierson & Will Leitch, Vulture