Nick Ruhrkraut

Iron Boy is a timeless tale that pinpoints the very nature of humans to desire meaning and embrace individuality. It remains the most compelling animated film of the year sure to resonate with and entertain the entire family.

The Book of Leviticus is one of rules and wrath, demanding a high specificity to purity in order to live according to God’s ethical standards. Recently, the Book has become a pick and choose index of Old Testament codes that religious zealots use to condemn others, namely the homophobic interpretations of Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13. For his feature debut, writer-director Chiarella has sharply crafted an empathetic and inventive rebuttal to the distortions of the text with an added spin that highlights the destructive, inhumane effects of conversion therapy.

For as much hope this international larger-than-life, genre-bursting monster flick promises itself to be, this unnecessary, unfinished 160-minute first act of a supposed trilogy is cosmically hopeless.