Vancouver born musician Kid Koala’s animated feature Space Cadet (which opens the 29th annual Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival this week) is full of heart and warmth. An easygoing, wordless, and poignant tale of loss, loneliness, and friendship, this adaptation of Koala’s similarly titled graphic novel is a soothing, poetic, and low key balm for stressful times that can appeal easily to all viewers old and young.
Recent Space Academy graduate Celeste spent most of her childhood being raised by a charming, helpful Guardianbot. Celeste is poised to follow in her late mother’s footsteps, taking on a solo, six month expedition into deep space. The aging robot (past its prime and desperately needing to free up some space in its memory) worries not only about Celeste’s safety, but also what they’re going to do once she’s no longer home. While Celeste goes off on a dangerous, interplanetary adventure to the same territory her mother never returned from, the robot struggles to fill its hours without anyone to care for.
Space Cadet doesn’t add much more depth than what’s obviously on the surface level, presenting itself as a meditation on loss and hanging onto memories, and the shifting perspective between the robot and Celeste doesn’t always cut together perfectly. But the script from Mylène Chollet more than gets the job done and Koala has a clarity of vision that can’t be denied.
The robot steals the show here, with Koala crafting an intriguing world and creative scenarios that showcase the aging tech’s personality and quirks. With the help of some mischievous plants on Celeste’s side and a persistent stray cat on the robot’s, Space Cadet also offers a compelling ode to the ways music and visual arts can help those who might be struggling weather life’s toughest storms. It’s a nice movie that doesn’t shy away from somewhat difficult conversation topics, and one that also never resorts to heavy-handed melodrama to get its points across. Space Cadet is a kind film that everyone could use right about now.
Space Cadet opens the 2025 Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival on Wednesday, November 5 at 7:30 pm at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. Kid Koala and production designer/head of story Lillian Chan will also hold an artist talk at CineCycle on Thursday, November 6 at 2:00 pm. It also screened earlier this year as part of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.
