‘Strange World’ movie review: Jake Gyllenhaal voice-stars in a multi-coloured, trippy, psychedelic fest
The Hindu
Quietly inclusive, with its message of family and finding your place in the world, in trippy psychedelic colours, ‘Strange World’ scores top marks in the entertaining stakes
There is something innocently joyous about Strange World. The bright purples and reds, the bizarre, spongy creatures and shiny, amorphous blobs all contribute to a happy viewing experience. The family story, the easily digestible morals and the shaggy three-legged dog called Legend add even more welcome levels of cuteness.
Jaeger Clade (Dennis Quaid) is the most famous explorer in Avalonia and his life’s ambition is to find what lies beyond the mountains ringing the land. When he sets off to do just that, his son, Searcher, (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is more interested in botany than exploring places where no one has gone before, finds a plant giving off a strange energy.
Though Jaeger wants to forge ahead, the rest of the party feel that the plant may be the answer to progress in Avalonia. Father and son fall out with Searcher leading the rest of the party back while Jaeger goes on ahead.
25 years later, the energy plant, Pando is powering Avalonia. Searcher is a successful pando farmer. He is married to Meridian (Gabrielle Union), a pilot, and they have a 16-year-old son, Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White). Like all dads, Searcher also embarrasses Ethan in front of his friends and especially his crush, Diazo, (Jonathan Melo).
Callisto Mal (Lucy Liu), the president of Avalonia, tells Searcher the pando is dying. She is putting together an expedition to go to the heart of the pando to find out what is wrong and wants Searcher to go with him.
Reluctantly Searcher agrees and even though he forbids Ethan from joining the expedition, Ethan, Legend and Meridian come along through a series of unfortunate events. After many adventures and mind-boggling revelations, Avalonia is saved, the family is together and all is well.
Inspired by the pulp magazines which director Don Hall read as a child as well as sci-fi and fantasy, including Journey to the Center of the Earth and King Kong, Strange World moves lightly on its multi-coloured, springy feet and equally smoothly on its variegated wings.
Actor-director Amol Palekar will receive META's Lifetime Achievement award for 2026 on March 25 in New Delhi.
India's artists unite against rising censorship, advocating for creative freedom and support for marginalized voices in the arts.
Written and directed by Kunal, the film also stars Sparsh Shrivastava and Vanshika Dhir
This year, Bharatnatyam artistes will present the Tyagaraja Aradhane as a dance performance
This year, Bharatnatyam artistes will present the Tyagaraja Aradhane as a dance performance
The actor, along with director Sushant Shah, speak about their upcoming series ‘Chiraiya’, Divya’s process of working on the dialect, Sushant’s approach to telling a story about women, and more
An independent video, ‘Feel the Spark’ by Raleigh Rajan with vocals by Ciera Dumas that celebrates Tamil literary giants, garnered 1.4 million views in less than 36 hours.
In ‘Jack Ryan: Ghost War’, John Krasinski is back as the savvy CIA analyst, diving headfirst into a high-stakes mission that unravels a deadly conspiracy and pits him against a rogue black-ops unit
Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra’s Shankarlal festival showcased rare ragas, radiant artistry, and inclusive performances, from Pt Madhup Mudgal’s serene morning ragas to Ramana Balachandran’s Saraswati veena.
Explore "Threads that Bind: The Kantha Project," an exhibition in Delhi reimagining kantha as a medium of repair and renewal.
Sean Penn skips the Oscars to meet Ukraine's Zelenskyy, who praises him as a "true friend" amid the war.
The teaser of Tamil star Suriya’s much-awaited film with director Venky Atluri, titled Vishwanath and Sons, was unveiled by the makers on Monday
A 'Golden' moment for a K-pop track at the Oscars.