Orion and the Dark

Contemporary adolescence can be pretty scary 24 hours a day and not just when the sun goes down, something Orion and the Dark understands and embraces.

This breezy and heartfelt animated adventure from screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) is a coming-of-age charmer about a perpetually frightened teenager whose issues extend well beyond the hallways and classrooms of his school.

The extended opening narration enables angst-ridden middle-schooler Orion (voiced by Jacob Tremblay) to detail his array of crippling fears and neuroses, from the relatable to the irrational. His awkwardness gives him wallflower status among his peers. “I try to be invisible, but not too invisible,” he explains.

Forget bullies and acne, however. The primary causes of his social paralysis are inside his head — and so are the solutions.

One night, his imagination conjures a visit from Dark (Paul Walter Hauser), rendered as a black apparition of sorts whose personality is more mischievous than menacing. It turns out Dark has vulnerabilities of his own, especially when it comes to his rivalry with Light (Ike Barinholtz), who erases Dark’s bleak blanket by spreading sunshine each morning.

Fortunately, Dark has support from his collection of sidekicks with names such as Sweet Dreams (Angela Bassett), Insomnia (Nat Faxon), and Sleep (Natasia Demetriou), who accompany him along his daily globetrotting routine.

When Dark tries to show Orion the inner workings of his operation via an overnight adventure, complications ensue. As they find common ground, a cautiously empowered Orion wonders how he will overcome his troubles once and for all.

Steered by rookie director Sean Charmatz, the endearing animation resembles hand-drawn illustrations combined with exaggerated physical character features.

Youngsters might relate to Orion’s surface-level anxieties and struggles to fit in, as well as his subsequent journey to finding his voice. Fortunately, Kaufman sprinkles a handful of amusing one-liners for adults, too, despite a needlessly convoluted ending.

It remains emotionally grounded, although the deeper it delves into its muddled mythology, the film tends to oversimplify some of the mental trauma and triggers at its core. Yet perhaps such scrutiny is beside the point.

Orion and the Dark is not an instant cure for phobias and insecurities, but at least it should plant some positive thoughts in the heads of its vulnerable target demographic.

Not rated, 91 minutes.