Orion and the Dark (2024) review

Dutiful dad Orion (voiced by Colin Hanks) tries to help his daughter Hypatia (Mia Akemi Brown) get over her fear of the nighttime by telling her the story about when he was little (Jacob Tremblay) and terrified by virtually everything (murder clowns, haircuts, bees, speaking in class, flooding the toilet, the school bully, etc.) until he received a visit by immortal Dark (Paul Walter Hauser), who took him on a guided tour of the world and introduced him to fellow nocturnal entities Sweet Dreams (Angela Bassett), Sleep (Natasia Demetriou), Unexplained Noises (Golda Rosheuvel), Insomnia (Nat Faxon) and Quiet (Aparna Nancherla).  It's a tad peculiar that this was adapted from a children's book by Emma Yarlett (written for kids between 3-5 years old) by writer/director Charlie Kaufman, who's currently in his mid-sixties, but it does cater (for the most part) to its presumably anxious younger audience with its very simple message stressing the importance of staying brave in frightening times ... even though child Orion's endless kvetching (to the point where he alienates Dark) might become annoying for adult viewers.  The voice cast is solid (including Werner Herzog!) and the animation holds up as well, but where it really becomes Kaufman-esque is in the third act which is where Hypatia has to save her own father ... and they're both (unexpectedly) rescued by another dreamer.  But for night owls such as myself (at least on the weekends and during the Summer months), that's the time ideas truly blossom....