Aarcflick

This animated British children's film lists five different people in the screenplay credits (two of whom contributed "additional material"); this might go some way to explaining why the story beats arrive with such metronomic precision, and the characters seem hydroponically grown in a lab. Which is, of course, ironic, given that the plot is set on a family farm where agronomist and owner Dinah (Golda Rosheuvel) decides to go organic after being inspired by her magical niece Charlie (Priya-Rose Brookwell, adorable), who can sense plants' emotions by touch. Having been recently introduced, for reasons the otherwise polished script doesn't explain, Charlie and Dinah get to know each other over the course of a few seasons, which coincidentally is the time it takes to grow a pumpkin for the town's annual competition. Charlie hopes to use the prize money to find his mother, who is rumored to have run away to become a movie star in California. Director: John McPhail...