The Mitchells vs. The Machines

The Millennial and Gen Z generations do not trust you. That is what basically every poll conducted in the last five years has indicated. Forbes reports that the one of the most recent Deloitte Millennial Surveys indicated an over 20% drop in the trust these generations have in businesses and corporations. A recent Harvard Institute of Politics poll showed that the majority of the people in these generations are fearful about the future of our country. Barna found in 2019 that 82% of young adults say society is in a leadership crisis. Our next generations have lost trust with nearly every institution and system we have to offer and, yes, that includes the institution of family and, more specifically, our parents. Looking at these numbers it’s hard not to feel the weight of this trust gap between younger and older generations. That is what made Netflix’s The Mitchells vs. The Machines such a welcome comfort.

Mitchells is largely about what family looks like in our modern context, but central to this story is the strained relationship between Rick Mitchell, a well-meaning but old fashioned and stubborn father, and his daughter Katie who challenges nearly every expectation Rick has had for his children. It is difficult to really define when the rift between Rick and Katie begins or why it’s happening. There isn’t a big traumatic family experience that splits them or, as many of us have experienced, some kind of deeply rooted ideological difference that is causing division. They are simply operating with the values systems and expectations of their respective generations. They just don’t get each other. Somewhere they stopped operating on the same, Rihanna-fueled wavelength and they stopped trusting each other.

Now, Katie is headed off to the college for the first time, but before she goes the tension between her and her dad bubbles all the way to the surface and pops. For this tight-knit, loving family, this feels like the apocalypse. Lucky for them, an actual apocalypse steps in and takes the Mitchells on an adventure that just might bridge the generational gap. While taking Katie to film school, the inevitable artificial intelligence uprising happens and the newest gadgets from a pseudo-Apple tech company starts capturing every human being on the planet to eradicate the human race. What a great time to bond as a family!

The Mitchells vs. The Machines comes to us from the producing team of Phil Lord and Chris Miller who have been changing the game in animation since their surprising hit The Lego Movie and their Academy Award winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Both of those high-profile releases carried quite a bit of public skepticism going into them. Many thought The Lego Movie was going to be nothing more than an extended commercial for the brand. Sony’s film studio had been fumbling their big Marvel Comics property for years with a string of failed franchise-starting Spider-Man projects and were muddying the waters with an animated movie when it seemed like they were finally on track with a successful new Spidey in Tom Holland. Lord and Miller crushed those fears, though, and gave us two of the most compelling and heartfelt animated movies in recent memory. Mitchells is no different.

In terms of family entertainment, the big streamers haven’t exactly been churning out high-quality fare. They know parents will look for any brightly colored animated distraction to keep their child’s attention for any period of time. The Mitchells vs. The Machines is far from a mere distraction, though. It truly has something to say and shows that streamers can develop creative and thrilling animation on whatever budget is available. With Mitchells, there is the 3D animation we expect these days, but it’s used with thrilling expertise providing some really stunning sequences like a mall being torn apart by an army of Furbies. In, perhaps, an extension of the lessons learned on Spider-Verse, they combine that 3D animation with Katie’s 2D doodles over the entire story. It deepens her character and gives the movie a unique and fun visual style.

On top of the animation, Mitchells is just plain funny. Most of the jokes do hit especially since they are delivered by the likes of Maya Rudolph, Danny McBride, Olivia Coleman, Beck Bennett, Fred Armisen, and Eric Andre. In between the laughs, though, Mitchells really does do some thoughtful meaning making about that growing generational gap. Neither Katie nor Rick is let off the hook for not trusting the other. The film shows that they both have things to offer, and both have a lot to learn from the other. In that Barna study, one of the top reasons for our young adults seeing a leadership crisis in society is that the older generation aren’t actually allowing them to lead, and there are a lot of areas where our younger generations are ready to lead right now. At the same time, they need experience coupled with the guidance, support, resources, and consistency of our older generations.

It is true that our younger generations don’t trust their elders, but trust is a two-way street. The generational gap continues to grow when we fail to trust in our younger generations as well. Their total lack of loyalty in the systems and institutions we often cling to can feel apocalyptic. Like they just want to burn it all down, but what if we did trust that they are seeing something older generations haven’t. What if even a little bit of trust was extended? Wouldn’t younger generations be more likely to produce at least a little bit of trust in return. We may want to try it before the actual end of the world comes.

The Mitchells vs. The Machines is streaming now on Netflix.