Boys Go to Jupiter

A teenager in suburban Florida fixes on a goal he cannot fully explain even to himself: to put together five thousand dollars. He delivers food for it, takes odd jobs, and spends his days on whatever the app sends him. Meanwhile an alien, a talking orange and a Florida drifting steadily away from reality appear around him. Julian Glander built the film entirely in a soft, plastic-looking three-dimensional style he drew himself. The images are cute and the narrative is not: the subject is how young people come apart inside the gig economy and how a goal loses its meaning. The voice cast includes Jack Corbett, Grace Kuhlenschmidt, Elsie Fisher and Janeane Garofalo. The register moves between comedy and melancholy throughout. Who it's for: Viewers who like independent animation, strange aesthetics, and contemporary narratives about the gig economy. Who it's not for: The narrative is deliberately loose and the plot is thin. The visual style is also not for everyone.