Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken review: DreamWorks' bubbly animation has real heart

• 🎞️ When is Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken in cinemas: 30 June, 2023
  

• ⭐️ Our rating: 4/5
  

• 🎭 Who's in it? Lana Condor, Annie Murphy, Jane Fonda, Toni Collette, Sam Richardson.
  

• 👍 What we liked: The frank examination of mother-daughter relationships, the humour and animation.
  

• 👎 What we didn't: Being a coming of age story, this is a narrative we've seen before.
  

• 📖 What's it about?: Ruby Gillman is desperate to go to prom but when she accidentally breaks her mum's one rule about never going into the ocean she realises that she can transform into a giant kraken, and she decides to embrace her new powers.

Ruby Gillman (Lana Condor) just wants to be a normal teenager by fitting in with her classmates and going to prom, but the thing is she isn't exactly 'normal' because she and her family are actually sea creatures that have chosen to make a life for themselves on land.

As a family they are keen to do everything they can to avoid suspicion (if anyone asks why they're blue, it's because they're Canadian), and Ruby's mother Agatha (Toni Collette) has one rule for the teen: Never go into the ocean.

Read more: Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken cast saw themselves in film's 'honest' portrayal of family conflict

This, it turns out, is because Ruby will turn into a giant kraken when she gets in and is the heir to the throne of the kraken kingdom currently ruled over by her Grandmamah (Jane Fonda).

When she accidentally falls into the ocean, Ruby learns all this and asks her warrior queen grandma to help train her so that she can help her newfound bestie Chelsea (Annie Murphy), a mermaid who wants to get back her mother's trident that was hidden following all-out war between krakens and mermaids.

Read more: The Little Mermaid: Every Easter egg and cameo in 2023 remake

The DreamWorks animation is the studio's first with a female lead and it features a moving coming-of-age story about finding one's voice and becoming a hero, but what hits most of all is the way the film examines the bonds that we share with our mothers.

The film does this through Ruby having difficulties with her mum after learning she's lied to her about their origins, and through Agatha's strained relationship with Grandmamah following the war between mermaids and kraken. It's messy and it's relatable.

It's also a notion that will likely resonate with its adult audience more so than the kids watching the film, but it is touching how the film gives an honest portrayal of mother-daughter relationships by refusing to gloss over the fact that conflict can happen but it can be overcome by communication and understanding.

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This storyline is more powerful than Ruby's coming-of-age narrative, though this is only because it is something that has been done time and again, particularly in animation, and so doesn't feel all that new.

Condor lends Ruby a sweet quirkiness that makes her a compelling protagonist, whilst Fonda's delivery is perfect for the grandiose gestures of Grandmamah and Murphy is surprisingly apt at going over-the-top in order to play a villain (though her time as Alexis Rose in Schitts Creek probably prepared her for it).

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken: What other critics thought

• The Independent: Animated coming-of-ager isn’t a patch on Turning Red (3 min read)

• Cinemablend: Dreamworks’ Take On Undersea Lore Is A Tad Shallow (5 min read)

• Indiewire: Turning Red’ Takes to the Seas for Familiar Monster Adventure (6 min read)

• The Hollywood Reporter: Sweet but Conventional DreamWorks Film (4 min read)

The film's animation, meanwhile, is bright, bubbly and fun and will no doubt delight younger viewers, particularly when the action is taken up a notch in the film's epic climax where the kraken and mermaids face each other once more.

All in all, Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken is a fun family film with a strong message at its heart that will delight viewers young and old, and hopefully it won't be the last time we see its plucky protagonist on our screens.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is out in cinemas now.

Watch the Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken cast discuss film's depiction of family