Dandelion’s Odyssey Review: Disaster & Hope

Dandelion’s Odyssey has an interesting concept and unique moments of animation, but they can’t disguise its uninspiring plot and repetitive nature.

However, whilst the way Seto portrays these themes is unique and sometimes magical, it ultimately doesn’t make for the most powerful filmic experience. She does very well in making us care quite deeply about the four seedlings, which is an achievement in its own right, but there is little else to grasp onto in this fleeting affair.

In this wordless feature film, four seeds from the same dandelion are thrust into space after a series of explosions destroy Earth. Thus begins the titular odyssey, as this quaint quartet launches through the cosmos before eventually landing on an unknown planet, ready to search for a new place to plant themselves and grow. The opening of Dandelion’s Odyssey is beautiful, entrancing, and more than anything, delightfully odd. The dandelions ‘watch’ some asteroids or bombs hit their home planet, quivering from the explosions, as  Seto gives them interestingly anthropomorphic qualities. They even seem to make little whimpers and sounds, and their movements are intricate and detailed.

On the whole, Dandelion’s Odyssey is an aural treat. Nicolas Becker (Earwig) and Quentin Sirjacq’s (Black Fries) music feeds directly into the environment and the seeds’ movements, with Dandelion’s Odyssey frequently taking on the tone of a century-old silent film. Thanks to these elements, you find yourself rooting deeply for these plucky seeds, who show a whole range of characteristics and personalities, from fear to affection to hope. There is even one seed which has only four strands to its pappus (the fuzzy white part), and loses them slowly throughout the group’s scrapes with danger.  It’s a really touching journey, and Seto’s ability to conjure up these sympathies and connections with plants, and even other organisms along the way, is impressive. 

The main issue is with how surprisingly predictable Dandelion’s Odyssey feels. This isn’t just in its themes, which are timely but relatively lacking in how they are handled, but also in its structure and tone. Yes, Seto gives this environmental story some new life in terms of what she specifically focuses on, but it is still made up of predictable story beats. Even the music, which is frequently its strongest point, occasionally falls back on schmaltzy piano to hammer home certain points. Moreover, the narrative itself eventually becomes stale, even considering the film’s short 75-minute runtime. There is a lot of repetition: dandelion seedlings toddle along, meet something dangerous, manage to escape, repeat. There is emotion here, but it is infrequent.

As an animation, Dandelion’s Odyssey is a mixed bag. There are some jaw dropping moments of beauty, particularly in the landscapes it captures or the small scale environmental constructions. The latter gives us a microscopic insight into our world and universe, which, again, reinforces the notion that all organisms have their place and own value within our ecosystem. Conversely, some of the animation is a fairly ugly affair, especially in the more computerised moments. It’s a topsy-turvy success rate that feels fitting for Dandelion’s Odyssey as a whole.

Dandelion’s Odyssey premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2025, in the Semaine de la Critique, and will be screened again on May 22-23.