A Robot and a Dog Displaying Water Safety Practices (CREDIT: NEON)

Starring: A Dog and a Robot

Director: Pablo Berger

Running Time: 102 Minutes

Rating: Unrated (G-Level with Maybe a Hint of Danger)

Release Date: May 31, 2024 (New York Theaters)/June 7, 2024 (Los Angeles)

What’s It About?: Have you ever seen a movie about a human befriending a machine? Or what about a human befriending a furry fellow? Surely you already know that there’s plenty of both of those! But what Robot Dreams presupposes is: instead of a human, what if an animal and a robot become friends with … each other? And so it goes, as a dog named Dog assembles himself a robot friend, and they quickly become inseparable. They head down to Coney Island one day for a beach outing, but Robot gets stuck in the sand and becomes too heavy for Dog to move him. He tries to come back to retrieve him the next day, but alas, the beach is now closed until next summer, so Dog is forced to be extraordinarily patient if he wants to reunite with his best friend. Will they be able to survive the wait, or does fate have something even more whimsical in store for them? In the meantime, Robot will have to settle for having vivid dreams about their reunion.

What Made an Impression?: Ba-dee-ah: Do you dream in music? Well, Dog and Robot dream in earth, wind, and fire. Specifically, they dream in “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire. It’s also a big part of their waking life as well. It’s the signature song to the soundtrack of their lives, and the potential calling card should they ever be reunited. This is transcendentally joyful funk R&B that strikes right at the connection-forming core of my psyche. I imagine that even viewers who have somehow never heard this song before will have a similar reaction.
No Chance for Reassurance: In between seeing Robot Dreams and writing this review, I read about the efforts to reunite migrant families separated at the border during President Trump’s zero tolerance policy. Some reunions have been successful but also profoundly unsatisfying, as the children were too young to understand that their parents were constantly trying to find them. I couldn’t help but draw parallels to the predicament of Robot, who remains similarly unaware of Dog’s efforts to track him down. To be clear, Robot Dreams is not at all as depressing as that real-world tragedy. Quite frankly, I can only hope that those children can be soothed by an imagination as vibrant as the one that Robot displays. This movie isn’t a matter of life and death, but it does offer a portrait of inspiring resilience, which quite frankly we can never have enough of. So if you have the good fortune of free time, do yourself a favor and allow Robot Dreams to place a balm on your soul.

Robot Dreams is Recommended If You Like: Bittersweet memories of happy days

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Dreams