Charlie Kaufman’s latest exploration of existential dread is, unexpectedly, a kids’ animation from Dreamworks and director Sean Charmatz. Highly neurotic eleven-year-old Orion (Jacob Tremblay) is swept off on an adventure by the anthropomorphic personifications of night, lead by Dark (Paul Walter Hauser). Will Orion learn to look at the scary wide world differently and overcome his fears, and just who is really telling his story? Despite the cutesy character designs and goofy humour, the themes and emotions of ORION AND THE DARK still makes this of a piece with Kaufman’s other work (as does its slightly convoluted meta levels later on), and also means this is another family animation much like INSIDE OUT that may well be appreciated more by the adults watching than their children. Funny, thoughtful, big-hearted stuff. SSP