The Mitchells vs. The Machines

If you haven’t checked out The Mitchells vs. The Machines yet, you’re missing one of the most infectiously fun family movies from the last few years. It’s an animated road trip film that somehow rolls up AI apocalypse mayhem, dad jokes, and an extremely relatable coming-of-age story about a weird kid and her weirder family. Think Lord and Miller’s kinetic humor from The Lego Movie, but with more social anxiety and less plastic.

The thing I appreciate most is its sheer visual inventiveness. The animation goes wild—it mixes digital and hand-drawn doodles in a way that’s chaotic on purpose. Every scene feels so crammed with energy and personality that you want to pause just to take it all in. It’s never generic or “just” computer animation; you get YouTube video gags, rainbow explosions, and running internet memes right alongside emotional beats. Sometimes it’s a lot, but honestly, that’s what sells the movie’s manic charm.

The core of the movie is Katie and her dad, Rick, who is basically every analog parent baffled by their creative, hyper-online kid. Abbi Jacobson and Danny McBride nail the voice work. Their banter and the underlying sadness of growing apart as a family is pretty touching in its own offbeat way. The film doesn’t shy away from awkwardness or cringey family dynamics. It leans in, and that honesty helps elevate it above most “quirky family saves the world” stories.

What doesn’t always land is the movie’s relentless energy. Sometimes it feels overloaded, as if the filmmakers are terrified to let a single joke breathe, and by the third act, you may crave a moment of stillness. There are spots where the “lol random” humor threatens to overshadow the strong emotional core. Luckily, it manages to dial things back just enough at the right moments.

The villain, voiced by Olivia Colman, is perfectly smug and hilarious, but the plot itself gets a bit predictable. You know exactly where this is heading from the first act, which softens the threat of the tech apocalypse a bit. Still, the movie sells its emotional notes with zero cynicism. Even when the story beats feel obvious, the execution keeps them fresh.

If you love your family movies weird, frantic, and surprisingly heartfelt, The Mitchells vs. The Machines is easy to recommend. Younger kids will appreciate the slapstick and visual chaos, but there’s also a genuine, awkward hopefulness that hits harder if you’ve ever felt out of place in your own family.