Roy From Space
Rating: 2/5
By: Nathaniel Simpson
SCREENED AT FANTASTIC FEST 2026
The thing I love about film festivals is the fact that they are able to bring older films forward that we may have not seen before. A major example of this is present at Fantastic Fest where they present Roy From Space (original title is Roy del Espacio), which is actually the third animated film to ever come out of Mexico and has since been lost for over forty-years. Thanks to the amazing people over at Deaf Crocodile, they have finally restored this picture to be shown, which is honestly a major feat within itself. While I genuinely appreciate everything they were able to do with this picture, it begs the question of if the film had received such negative reviews when it was first released, would anything change four decades later? While I must review this film on its own merit, it is hard to not put in some bias for my appreciation for Deaf Crocodile and their very talented artists.
The film feels like a run-of-the-mill space film, with Roy and his comrades going deep into space to stop the red planet from destroying Earth. Many critics of this film have discussed how this movie fits too much into the sci-fi tropes and doesn't do anything original, which I can see. However, I think the most important part of that when discussing movies that lean too much into the genre it is set in is if it makes you feel something by telling a similar story we have seen numerous times before. This one, unfortunately, doesn't work the way it should. Like other critics, I feel like this movie hits too many of the same beats and doesn't really offer anything new to the story. The story is present, but it is very bland and not very inspiring in terms of storytelling.
In addition to the animation being restored by these artists today, one thing I can appreciate is the original animation. This film was crafted by filmmakers who have never drew professionally before in their lives, and they attempted to craft this film to bring another animated movie to life in Mexico. I'm torn about how I feel about this in the sense that yes, it looks very amateurish and is leagues worse than other animated movies coming out at that time; but you have to appreciate the effort they put into trying to craft this film. It follows that saying that if you don't try, you'll never succeed.
The main reason for this 2-star score here is due to the animators working on this film today, working to bring this movie back to the spotlight in a beautiful, restored version. When watching this film, how they were able to restore this movie and make it seem so colorful and bright when they are working with a film print that is over 40-years old is nothing short of amazing. While my feelings towards this film aren't very positive, I hold these modern animators in high-esteem and appreciate the work they were able to do on this picture. It is filmmakers like these that are perhaps some of the most important because they are making sure the numerous decades of cinema throughout its history stay alive, and I think that's the most important thing here.
There is no doubt Roy From Space fits perfectly into the midnight movie category, and it is simply not for me. However, with that being said, I appreciate and applaud the modern animators working at Deaf Crocodile for bringing this movie to the attention of modern audiences and being able to restore this film exquisitely. I honestly enjoyed watching this movie on the sense of technological and animation marvel, watching in amazement on how they were able to bring this movie back from the dead.
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