Ron's Gone Wrong (2021)

This was the now almost weekly trip to the cinema with my daughter, and in terms of film quality this was the strongest since Raya And The Last Dragon (2021). Barney is a socially awkward schoolboy, the odd one out in his school. Every one of his classmates has a B-bot, a walking/rolling robot created by tech giant Bubble, which serves as each child’s special best friend. Barney’s Dad eventually gets him a B-bot that has quite literally fallen off the back of a van, meaning it’s damaged, causing him to remain the odd one out. However, the film's message builds from here; Barney’s robot ‘Ron’ because of his oddities rather than in spite of them, slowly becomes a real friend to Barney. With children all glued to their phones and social media these days, the film's use of B-bots is essentially the modern phone, and it was so nice to see the films encouragement of real face to face talking (God forbid!) between children, outside playing and having fun. The B-bot is a terrific screen toy, it’s absolutely not far off being a reality one feels, and Ron’s oddities are genuinely hilarious, as is much of the film. It cleverly plays on the ludicrous laziness of humans pertaining to our over reliance on technology. Ron’s Gone Wrong is a bit of a gem, reminding you of a time when a child’s imagination was the root of all fun, and you learnt by reading books; but it also suggests how useful technology can be when used in the right way and within limits. 7.7/10