Arco Ending Explained: How Time Travel Works And What That Final Shot Reveals About The Future

The following contains spoilers for ArcoArco is a gorgeously animated sci-fi film that grounds all of its futuristic trappings in a story about the importance of family bonds. Ugo Bienvenu's directorial debut follows a boy from the future named Arco, whose first attempt at time-travel lands him in 2075. Befriending a local girl, Arco struggles to find a way home.

Along the way, though, the movie's true thematic weight comes from the bond that forms between them and what it teaches them about their own respective families. While the critically acclaimed Academy Award nominee has plenty to say about climate change and the future, it's ultimately a movie about family above all else.

Why Is Arco's Family So Much Older When They Find Him?

By the end of Arco, Iris and the titular boy finally reunite him with his family, but with a catch. After recovering the time-traveling technology needed to send Arco home, Arco's attempt to bring Iris with him results in their crash back to Earth. It's only through Mikki that the pair survives the expanding forest fires they land in.

While Mikki is damaged beyond repair, the robot's efforts to salvage its memories by carving replicas of them into the cave they used for safety ensure that they live on. They also provide Arco's family a location they can use to find him, allowing him to return home. However, when they arrive, they're far older than when he left.

It turns out Arco has been missing for at least a decade. Despite this, they never stopped looking and searching for him across different time-periods until the discovery of Mikki's etchings gave them a clue on where to go. It reinforces the film's themes about the importance of family as well as the cost of emotional and physical distance.

What Do Dougie, Stewie, And Frankie Want With Arco?

For much of Arco, the trio of Dougie, Stewie, and Frankie is presented as antagonists. They are on the hunt for Arco, with their hapless feuding providing some levity to their apparently villainous intentions. However, it turns out the trio actually has no villainous plans or dark intentions for the boy.

In fact, they share the curiosity that pushed Iris to befriend Arco in the first place. After seeing time-travelers go through their period when they were children, the trio refused to leave; their disbelieving parents convinced them they had just seen a vision. Once they find Arco and learn the truth, they actually become very supportive of him.

The three are crucial for Arco's escape, setting up the circumstances that lead to Arco's eventual discovery by his family. The trio are direct reflection of Iris, sharing the emotional distance they felt from their parents. It also explains why they so quickly bond with Iris and why it's implied that they become close to her family.

Why Humanity Left The Surface In The First Place

One of the more intriguing sci-fi elements of Arco is the way it shows two very different future periods bristling against one another. Iris' time period in 2075 is relatively reminiscent of the present day, albeit with futuristic touches like robots and protective bubbles for houses during extreme weather.

Within a thousand years, though, humanity has seemingly migrated fully to communities in the sky, held up on massive towers that Arco compares to trees. While Arco mentions that some terrible event led humans to leave the Earth, the full details and breakdown of this event are left to the imagination.

However, that crisis (as well as the extreme storms and massive wildfires that besiege Iris and her peers) speaks to the damage that climate change has had on the planet. It seems that the Earth itself eventually becomes no longer habitable​​​​​​, leaving time-travelers to ensure the survival of specific fauna through their travels.

How Arco Sets Up An Emotionally Powerful Time Loop

The final scene of Arco is a quiet beat that reveals a lot about the life of Iris after the events of the film. Through pictures taken throughout her life, it becomes clear that her parents ensure their presence is more pronounced at home. Her brother Peter is happy, the three brothers become family friends, and Iris eventually graduates with honors.

Notably, the sketch she did based on Arco's description of his home gradually becomes more detailed as time goes on, suggesting that Iris became an architect in her later years. In fact, the final models and blueprints she designs are exact replicas of Arco's eventual home, suggesting Iris was their initial designer.

This suggests that in Arco, time loops exist where certain events in the future (such as the construction of the sky homes and subsequently Arco's trip to the past) impact history (such as Arco giving Iris the inspiration for the sky homes in the first place). It does a lot to explain Arco's approach to causality and time-travel.

The True Meaning Of Arco, Explained

Arco is ultimately a very sweet film about growing up. Both Iris and Arco initially start the film somewhat frustrated by their families, whether that be the hands-off approach Iris' parents take or the limitations that Arco's parents put on him. In both cases, the character only realizes the challenges of their loved ones in the third act.

The death of Mikki and Arco's reunion with his family leave Iris and Arco both heartbroken, but both cases also highlight the family bonds that underscore their lives. Arco, being the one to give Iris the idea for the sky settlements, proves that the influence we have on one another can change the world.

This also all plays into the film's emotional approach to the world. While the planet might severely change over the years — to the point where humanity leaves the surface to give it time to "heal" from countless unnamed disasters — it is still a place where family (whether that be between children and parents, siblings, or friends) matters above all else.

Arco touches on lots of subjects in subtle ways, while making its emotional resonance clear from the onset. This is a film about families. Even when they're distant from one another (either by city limits or across the time-stream), those bonds are crucial. Arco highlights how emotional bonds are the key not just to survival, but to the future.