The New York Film Festival returned to Lincoln Center (and various other locations across New York City), bringing with it some of the year’s biggest Oscar contenders, new voices, and some high-profile premieres. The lineup this year encompassed everything from social issue documentaries to arthouse drama to experimental sci-fi, featuring both star-studded stories and first-time directorial efforts, and a slate of notable industry names that ranged from Guadagnino to Godzilla. Yes, in perhaps the biggest surprise of the festival’s lineup, Godzilla Minus Zero, the heavily anticipated follow-up to 2023’s Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One, chose Manhattan’s Alice Tully Hall as the venue for the world premiere. Other highly-talked about films featured include the fully-uncut restoration of Ken Russell’s legendarily controversial film The Devils in all its officially NC-17 glory, the world premieres of both Tony Gilroy’s Behemoth! starring Pedro Pascal and Sam Altman biopic Artifical, and Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s surprise epic-length Elizabeth Holmes documentary You Can See Everything, which has everyone who’s seen it going absolutely insane over it.

It’s common knowledge among New York Film Festival attendees that tickets are almost never a given for non-passholders, and all the best stuff usually sells out well in advance of the general onsale. You might get lucky on occasional ticket drops or in the standby line, or even win tickets at the festival’s annual trivia nights, but for the most part, you have to really spend or struggle to get the good stuff. So, it’s really surprising that one of the films playing with some of the best word of mouth of the entire lineup never ended up selling out (which might have had something to do with its matinee timeslot). Thankfully, A) I actually pay attention to said word of mouth out of other festivals and B) it’s animated, so of course I got tickets. That film was Iron Boy, directed by Pixar alumnus Louis Clichy, and it might just be one of my favorite things I saw this year. Mixing a gorgeous hand-painted style with a weighted but heartfelt coming-of-age story, it’s one you should absolutely keep an eye out for.

It’s the mid-1980s in the rural Beauce region of France, and 11-year-old Christophe wants to live up to his strict father on his family’s farm. For him, this means the day when he can finally ride the family’s tractor. However, recently he seems to be falling over uncontrollably, unable to stand upright. It’s funny on school picture day, less funny when he finds himself crashing the tractor (to say nothing of when he’s carrying the cross during procession at church). After going to the doctor, Christopher learns that whatever is wrong with him, he now needs to wear an iron corset to stand up straight. Now walking robotically and barely able to move his neck, Christophe finds himself furious at the world over this drastic life change, which further causes stress from his family. However, eventually Christophe, who is reaching the age where major changes start occurring in one’s life, starts finding ways to channel his frustrations into a new passion for music, find first love, and overcome his physical struggles.

Initially, I expected this to be a story about dealing with a physical disability, potentially a tearjerker. Initially, that’s what this story is, and Clichy does a really good job conveying the emotional weight Christophe goes through. I struggle with spinal issues myself so I definitely felt Christophe’s struggle with recognizing that his life will never be the same. This is further developed through some scenes in which, without giving too much away, Christophe finds a way to get out his anger at the world in a way that fits his situation, scenes that make great use of the fact that this is an animated film.

However, the film ultimately ends up being so much more, becoming an endearing coming-of-age story that packs an awful lot of story into less than 90 minutes. As Christophe deals with his new reality, he ends up slowly maturing and growing through a number of subplots. One of my favorites being his crush on Clara, a rebellious teen girl who plans to use Christophe’s disability to less-than-ethical means. The fact that this is inspired by Clichy’s childhood and others he knew really adds to the movie, making the environments feel lived in and fleshed out. You really get a sense of the rustic country life the family leads, one where the church is at the center of the community and everything depends on the harvest. It adds a lot of depth that makes the film into something truly great. It’s nice to see an animated film that feels particularly aimed at families rather than just children. (This is something that, during the Q&A, the film’s producer said she initially had trouble conveying while finding funding, as financiers assumed the movie being animated meant it would be primarily for kids.)

Of course, if you’ve read my reviews, you know I’ll inevitably get to the animation, and in that regard the film is, to put it mildly, stunning. The entire movie is made in watercolor and digitally composited, a filmmaking accomplishment told through a visual style that’s simple yet incredibly complex on a deeper level. While the art is charmingly cartoony, the simulation of the lighting and gorgeous landscapes have a lot of effort put into them with many subtle touches I can’t really put into words in my review. The painted look also gives everything a visible texture that digital art can’t really replicate. The end result is a film that feels like a children’s picture book brought to vivid life. In an era where most of the biggest animated films right now are in CGI and it feels like human animation in general is under attack, a 2D animated film, let alone one this handcrafted, is a welcome rarity.

I thought I knew what to expect going into Iron Boy, but in the end the film surprised me with something greater. By the end of the film, the back brace becomes a larger metaphor for dealing with change in general, be it through personal hardships or general adolescence. If I had a complaint, I thought some stuff near the end of the movie was a bit spotty, but I will say that the final shot of the film is, in my opinion, perfect. This is one of the best animated films of the year, and one of the best films I’ve seen this year, period. Sony Pictures Classics will be putting this film out in the U.S. in January (though maybe earlier in some areas, as I can absolutely see this being a significant animated Oscar contender), so definitely catch this if you can. It certainly started my New York Film Festival this year on a massive high note.