Lessons from Orion and the Dark by the Ent. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before You Watch
Movie: Orion and the Dark
Rating: TV-Y7
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Length: 1 hr and 30 mins
Age suggested: 6 and up (See warnings for more context)
Release Date: February 2nd, 2024
Warnings: This movie deals heavily with fear and anxiety. Despite few things actually happening, Orion does imagine quite a few terrible outcomes. Check out our “Is Orion and the Dark Appropriate” section for more details.
Orion and the Dark Summary
Based on the Emma Yarlett Book, Orion is a boy who’s life revolves around anxiety. One night, Dark comes to him and confronts him about his fear of everything. This sends Orion and Dark on a large adventure in which Orion learns the intricacies of Dark and the rest of the crew responsible for the night. This movie provides a surprisingly heartfelt movie that most of the family can enjoy.
Orion and the Dark Review (Contains Light Spoilers)
Orion and the Dark starts off with an interesting premise and carries that energy through to the very end. The introduction of Dark and his friends is so fun and gives vibes of Inside Out or Rise of the Guardians! Each character is so lively (or sleep in some cases) and the voice acting is spot on for every character (hearing an older Jacob Tremblay was a bit trippy though)
My favorite aspect of this movie is that the entire story was told from the perspective of a father trying to share his story to make her fear the dark less. This ends up making the story jump around in what would normally feel a bit ridiculous, but due some other reveals I’ll leave to the watcher, it just feels surprisingly wholesome.
Continue reading for our Lessons from Orion and the Dark
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Is Orion and the Dark Appropriate?
Orion and the Dark is rated TV-Y7 for fear and language. Orion is a young boy who struggles with severe anxiety. No matter what situation he is in, he consistently imagines the absolute worst possible outcome. He even has a notebook in which he draws some of these imaginings. This is where you will see some of the darker imagery (i.e. infected arms falling off, people dying, etc), but all drawn in a child cartoon style. This overall probably won’t affect older viewers, but younger viewers who are prone to anxiety may need to be prepped or pass on this one.
When we get introduced to how Sleep operates, we see the horrific ways she causes people to sleep. She is shown using “magic” pillows for smothering, chloroform, and a hammer that was about to be used on a baby (before Orion stops her). Although the viewers is supposed to understand the fact that this is to help people sleep, younger viewers may be scared by such a prospect. Lastly, Dark surrenders himself to the Light in an act that effectively kills him off, but he is brought back later in the story.
Continue reading for our Lessons from Orion and the Dark
Favorite Orion and the Dark Quotes
But to do that, I’d have to be able to not constantly obsess over every negative thing that could possibly happen.
You know, there are a lot of people that are scared of me, but you’re on a whole different level.
Do you know how many kids are afraid of me? It’s giving me a complex.
I just wanna not be afraid anymore.
“Fun” is just a word people made up to make danger sound more appealing
The only stories that really help are the true ones.
On second thought, maybe it’s not such a good idea to put the fate of the world om the hands of an 11 year old kid with severe performance anxiety.
We always want to know the ending because it makes things less scary in the middle parts.
So much of how you see yourself is through the eyes of others.
-Orion and the Dark Quotes
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Lessons from Orion and the Dark
Lesson #1 – Our Life Does Not Have to be Dictated by Fear
The main focus of this movie is the overcoming of fear. As Orion later learns, this does not mean ‘not having fears’ but rather learning how to live with them. Orion’s daughter points out that although we want to know the ending of the story, we have to live the life we have, even with the fear.
Lesson #2 – Sometimes to Overcome Fears, We Need to Look at What Causes that Fear
Orion’s main fear at the beginning of the film was darkness. This leads Dark to confront him because he couldn’t take the constant insults. After a fairly small amount of time, Orion does warm up to him and learns that he doesn’t have to be afraid of him.
Lesson #3 – There is a balance between Light and Dark
During the emotional climax of the movie, Dark doesn’t leave Light’s presence, causing him to disappear. Without Dark, the world is simply not right. This leads to the team trying to find a way to bring Dark back and restore the balance of Light and Dark.
Orion and the Dark Discussion Questions
Themes to Discuss: Overcoming fear, Anxiety, Misunderstanding people, and Redemption
- If you had a sketchbook with some of your fears, what would be in there?
- Is there something that you used to be scared of, but aren’t anymore? How did you overcome that fear?
- Which of the night time crew was your favorite and why?
- How does Orion’s daughter (and eventually grandchild) change the story Orion was telling?
- Have you every heard a fun story from the adults in your life? If so, what is it? If not, ask them for a fun story from when they were your age.
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