Boys Go to Jupiter, the feature debut of writer/director/producer/composer Julian Glander, finds beauty in mundanity. Set in suburban Florida between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, this strange but lovely film is unlike any animated feature you’ll see this year. This is a movie that opens with a group of teenage boys rapping on the beach, who then discover an alien and then… continue with their day. That’s the type of odd world that Glander is working with here, where characters break for a musical number every few minutes, people pay for mobile-ordered food with miniature golf balls, and Sarah Sherman voices a Christian neighbor railing against graffiti. The world of Boys Go to Jupiter is weird and wild, but Glander makes it into something beautiful and surreal, and a movie unlike anything you’ll see this year.
What Is ‘Boys Go to Jupiter’ About?

Boys Go to Jupiter primarily follows Billy 5000 (voiced by Jack Corbett), a recent high school dropout who has started to work for a mobile food delivery service called Grubster. His goal is to make $5,000 so he can pay back his sister (voiced by Sorry Baby’s Eva Victor) for everything she’s done for him, as well as to get a place of his own, instead of living in her garage. Billy 5000 (a nickname from school because of his proficiency with numbers) works hard every day to meet this goal, barely sleeping, never showering, and trying to find other ways to earn money as quickly as possible. He finds a loophole that he thinks will earn him more money at Grubster, he fantasizes about other side hustles that could get him to his goal, and in one demeaning instance, even agrees to chew up a person’s food order for them to watch. But the Florida of Boys Go to Jupiter is unpredictable and wild — yes, even by regular Florida standards. A strange donut-shaped figure, which Billy 5000 understandably calls Donut, starts following him around, he starts crushing on Rozebud (Miya Folick), his former classmate who also works with her mom, Dr. Dolphin (Janeane Garofalo) at a company trying to find new fruit innovations, and this is all in addition to the unusual customers he meets, like a guy (Chris Fleming) who works inside the World’s Largest Hot Dog, or Herschel Cretaceous (Joe Pera), who buried his father in a dinosaur-themed mini golf course.
‘Boys Go to Jupiter’ Nails Its Charming, Delightful Vibe

But what immediately grabs the audience about Boys Go to Jupiter is its idiosyncratic style, which often shows the world from a distant perspective, so we can take in all the wild surroundings. Glander has created some gorgeous little set pieces for us to stare in awe at, as if these are his playhouses for us to soak in. Each new location feels lived in and considered, from an empty pool that Billy 5000 and his friends hang out at to the intricacies of Dr. Dolphin’s family juice company, Dolphin Groves. Even when Glander is focusing on the monotony and humdrum routine of this world, it’s still stunning to explore. Glander has created a world that almost seems like PaRappa the Rapper, but brought to life with 3D animations of Little Tikes toys, and the aesthetic absolutely works. Glander has also put together an incredible cast of voice actors that is packed with some of the funniest people working today. Julio Torres and recent Tony-winner Cole Escola both voice multiple characters, Demi Adejuyigbe appears as Mr. Moolah, who makes videos about how to get rich quick, and Grace Kuhlenschmidt voices a lanky wannabe musician known as Freckles. It’s a fantastic lineup of actors who completely nail the tone that Glander’s film requires, but none more than Corbett, whose starring role here feels like a natural progression of the great videos he made for NPR’s Planet Money. Corbett, who often creates videos about economic equality and many of the other monetary issues Boys Go to Jupiter is somewhat addressing, makes perfect sense as Billy 5000, as he struggles to survive in this modern world. His almost monotone, sleepy register immediately puts us in the mindset of Billy 5000 and his frustrating exhaustion with this world, where earning the few thousand dollars he needs is a continual struggle.
‘Boys Go to Jupiter’ Goes to Some Strange Places — but the Journey Is Worth It

Image via Cartuna and Irony Point

Glander’s background is mostly in 3D animated shorts, and at times, Boys Go to Jupiter certainly feels like a collection of these shorts tossed together into a feature-length film. But the narrative of Billy 5000’s deliveries and his exploration of his odd Florida life makes this work, for the most part. Every few minutes, the film is broken up with a charming short musical number that adds to making this feel like fragments thrown into a story. Altogether, it works to match the tone and vibe of this world, but it can sometimes feel like we’re getting individual pieces rather than the full puzzle. Some segments don’t quite work as well as others, as is sometimes the case with the film’s frequent returns to Dolphin Groves, and without spoiling where this story goes, it does go in some unexpected directions in the final act. But even when Boys Go to Jupiter does seem like it’s heading off the deep end, it all comes together in a clever way to explore the film’s themes of the difficulties of life, feeling like you’re not getting anywhere, and the choices we make that help move us down a path, any path. With Boys Go to Jupiter, Glander crafts an intricate, bewildering world that feels completely original in the world of animated features. Even when the concept doesn’t entirely work, it’s hard not to get lost in the arresting animation and relatability of Billy 5000’s plight through the gig economy (even if it includes a talking donut, hybrid fruits, and a mysterious person who orders way too much spaghetti). Boys Go to Jupiter is the type of animated feature we need more of: experimental, unusual, yet fun and familiar. Boys Go to Jupiter comes to New York on August 8, Los Angeles on August 15, before expanding to other cities.

Boys Go to Jupiter

Boys Go to Jupiter is a strange and gorgeously animated trip through an odd Florida and the gig economy.

Release Date

June 7, 2024

Runtime

90 minutes

Director

Julian Glander

Writers

Julian Glander

Elsie Fisher

Beatbox (voice)

Tavi Gevinson

Miss Sharon / Minivan Mom (voice)

Pros & Cons

Boys Go to Jupiter is stunning to look at, and director Julian Glander crafts an engaging world.
This voice cast, including Jack Corbett and Janene Garofalo, is great from top to bottom.
Amongst the weirdness is a relatable story about the struggle to get by.

Boys Go to Jupiter can occasionally feel like a series of vignettes.
Sometimes the story gets dangerously close to going completely off the rails.