"Ron's Gone Wrong" Review - From the Vaults

"Ron's Gone Wrong"

An average day at my old job, to be fair

Barney (Jack Dylan Grazer) is a kid with no friends, who lives with his widower father (Ed Helms) and Eastern European Grandmother (Olivia Damn Coleman of all people); in a world where every other child is accompanied by the top of the line "Bubble Bot" - an all-singing, all-dancing top of the line device which is not only their perfect friend, but cultivates and seeks out others for them through algorithms and data. He eventually acquires "Ron" (Zach Galifanakis), a slightly damaged Bubble Bot, and attempts to make a friend...

This movie is utterly delightful: "The Iron Giant" for the digital age, as lazy as it may sound. It's a funny, witty, fiercely biting satire on mega-corporate tech companies and a fable about the beauty of human connection and the chaos of life being overshadowed by corporate algorithms and our fascination/obsession with technology. It has an actually quite sinister undertone as it tackles popularity, social norms, social media and the capitalist desire to monetise even human interaction... 

But at its core is a sweet, genuinely heartwarming story which doesn't rely on saccharine overdone tricks, and loves its core friendship, which works. I got choked up at the end.