When Katie Mitchell (Abbi Jacobson) secures a place at film school her father Rick (Danny McBride) fears he is losing her until he lands on a brilliant idea. Road trip! Piling the whole family into their trusty old estate they travel across America. The only thing that could stop them is a robot apocalypse. 

The first thing to grab you in this film is it’s fabulous animation. It is absolutely beautiful throughout and uses little embellishments to inform on emotions and interactions between characters. Sony animation have really begun to challenge the powerhouses of Disney/Pixar with its most recent output. 

Behind the beautiful animation it has a perfect combination of story, jokes and voice cast. The story is both heartfelt and bonkers. At its core it is about family. A father and daughter who have grown apart and a family who want to reconnect in a world where technology keeps you permanently connected. Whilst this facet of the film has the power to touch you emotionally it also has an interesting and much more nuanced take on technology. This is not as simple as technology is bad. Yes it can be a distraction, but it also enables Katie to create and be a film maker and connect people over large distances. This emotional and philosophical story is filled throughout with more jokes than can possibly be imagined. Visual gags and little verbal asides are peppered throughout the more obvious and brilliant lunacy that is front and centre at all times. All of which are brilliantly performed by a great voice cast. Maya Rudolph and co-director/writer Michael Rianda complete the Mitchell family whilst Olivia Colman is genius as PAL, our would be robot overlord. 

Oh, and there is an hilarious and cute dog that all children watching will absolutely love! 

Producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller appear to have the golden touch when it comes to creating films filled with energy and able to delight audiences. They are responsible for Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs and its sequel, 21 Jump Street and its sequel, The Lego Movie and its sequel and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. And this film keeps their fantastic run going. 

The Mitchell’s Vs The Machines is an absolutely stupendous film. It is brimming with ideas, uproariously funny and packed with heart. An absolute must watch on every level.