Indie animated feature Boys Go to Jupiter brings cozy game aesthetics to the big screen
It is rare these days for me to encounter a film I wish I could live inside. That’s probably on me, choosing to mostly watch dreadful horror or terse thrillers or whatever dogshit Ryan Murphy has served up this quarter. Boys Go to Jupiter, currently playing at Screenland Armour and coming soon to VOD, is a rare highlight for me in 2025: something thoroughly unexpected, gorgeous, and perhaps most shockingly… a great, calm vibe.
This movie fixed a chemical in my brain, and I feel the need to proselytize for it, as if it were a homeopathic remedy that cured my ills.
Julian Glander’s directorial debut, the vet of Adult Swim/Cartoon Network productions, has crafted an achingly critical assault on techno-capitalism delivered in the most lo-fi beats package. Building from their work on the 2019 game ART SQOOL, this film occupies similar territory. If you’re used to any kind of Annapurna Interactive adventure or recent small-team weirdo indie games—especially those that play with perspective and dialogue as the main focus—then Glander’s work should feel right at home. If this weren’t on the big screen, I’d know exactly the points in this story that I’d be using my finger to cycle between locations or rotate conversations.
If anything from Monument Valley through Donut County, Oxenfree, or A Night in the Woods sets off any alarms in your brain, I can promise this delivers a similar hit of serotonin.
It’s the day after Christmas in suburban Florida and Billy 5000 (NPR’s Planet Money host Jack Corbett) and his friends pass the seemingly endless days by slacking, shoplifting, and beatboxing. In between lounging on the beach and sneaking into pools, Billy spends his time hustling on the food-on-demand app Grubster, desperate to make $5,000 before New Year’s Eve. As he darts around the city delivering to a series of oddball characters, a routine stop at the mysterious Dolphin Groves Juice Company leads to a run-in with his former classmate—and crush—Rozebud and a surprise backpack stowaway in Donut, a bizarre creature from another world. But Dr. Dolphin, the powerful orange juice CEO, will do anything to get Donut back, and Billy is forced to make hard choices about love, friendship, and how far he’ll go for financial security in a world ruled by capitalism in this absurdist and musical take on a coming-of-age comedy.
The voice cast includes Tavi Gevinson, Elsie Fisher, Janeane Garofalo, Grace Kuhlenschmidt, Miya Folick, Julio Torres, Joe Pera, Sarah Sherman, Cole Escola, Eva Victor, Chris Fleming, River L Ramirez, Max Wittert, and the always beloved Demi Adejuyigbe. Mixed with a distinct 3D art style, and crafted entirely in 90 days using the open-source modeling program Blender, this is the perma-stoned feel-good hit of the fall… Techno-feudalism included, apparently.
Boys Go to Jupiter plays at Screenland Armour this week. Tickets here.
