Film
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
A dysfunctional family's disastrous road trip collides with a robot uprising, and somehow that's the funniest, most tender thing about it. Directed with the manic visual invention of a scrapbook come alive, it's a film about a dad who doesn't understand phones and a daughter who doesn't understand him, forced to save the world together. Loud, sincere, and gorgeous to look at.
If you liked this
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse2018
Same studio's animators, the same collage-explosion visual language that treats every frame like a comic panel breaking apart. If the look of Mitchells grabbed you, this is where that style was born.
But It's superhero mythology, not family comedy — the emotional engine is grief and legacy, not sibling bickering in a minivan.

Turning Red2022
Swap killer robots for a giant red panda and you've got the same beating heart: an awkward teenage girl and an overbearing, deeply loving parent learning to let go of each other without letting go of love.
But It's smaller and quieter, a coming-of-age story with no world-ending stakes or action-movie momentum.

The Lego Movie2014
Same anything-goes animation energy, the same plot engine of ordinary misfits outsmarting a rigid machine intent on control, and the same trick of hiding real sincerity inside relentless jokes.
But Broader and sillier, with far less interest in the messy specifics of one family's dysfunction.

The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Little Miss Sunshine2006
Same structural DNA — a dysfunctional family trapped together on a road trip becomes, against its will, a story about loving each other anyway.
Strip out every robot and you're left with the actual bones of Mitchells: a broken-down family van, a hopeless dad, a prickly teenager, and a trip that somehow fixes what words couldn't.
But No spectacle at all — it's a quiet, melancholy indie comedy-drama, and some of its humor is genuinely bleak.

More like this (8)
Big Hero 62014
A tech-obsessed kid, a lovable machine, and an adventure that turns gadgetry into genuine emotion — this is Disney's version of the same warm collision between grief, invention, and family.
But Glossier and more conventionally heroic, with a solo-protagonist focus rather than an ensemble family dynamic.

Coco2017
A family torn apart by generational misunderstanding, gorgeous maximalist visuals, and an ending built to wreck you — Pixar's most emotionally direct hit, and the closest thing to Mitchells' tear-jerk instincts.
But No tech satire, no robots, no comedy of modern life — it's mythic and mournful rather than manic.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish2022
Part of the same animation renaissance, with visually daring set-pieces and a scrappy makeshift family of oddballs powering the adventure through sheer charm.
But It's a swashbuckling fairy tale, not a family-road-trip story, and skips the tech-satire angle entirely.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs2009no page yet
A nerdy inventor whose creation spirals gloriously out of control, told with the same hyper-caffeinated, joke-per-second animation style and a similar father-child rift underneath the chaos.
But Aimed a notch younger, with more slapstick and less emotional complexity in its family relationships.
Free Guy2021
A lighter, live-action cousin: tech-world satire, an AI hero discovering his own agency, and genuine warmth buried under the video-game spectacle.
But No family at its core, and the satire on digital life is gentler and more romantic-comedy than pointed.

Ready Player One2018
Humans versus an overwhelming tech-driven threat, found family forged under pressure, and Spielberg-scale spectacle for anyone who wants the machine-uprising thrills turned up to eleven.
But Heavier on nostalgia and pop-culture cameos than character, and it's live-action blockbuster rather than intimate animation.

WarGames1983
The same core nightmare — a human-built system deciding it knows better than us — but told as a taut, humorless thriller instead of a joyful family comedy.
Decades before killer AI was a punchline, this Cold War thriller had a teenager accidentally waking up a machine that wants to end the world, played entirely straight and still tense as hell.
But No comedy, no animation, no family warmth — it's an analog-era thriller with a very different, much colder heart.

The Social Dilemma2020
Same target — our unhealthy, engineered relationship with our screens — but delivered as a genuine warning rather than a cartoon.
The real-world version of Mitchells' satire: the actual engineers who built the algorithms explain, on camera, how deliberately addictive and manipulative your devices are.
But It's a documentary, not an adventure — sober, alarming, and completely without the comfort of a happy ending.

People
Cast
Abbi JacobsonKatie / Dog Cop (voice)
Danny McBrideRick (voice)
Maya RudolphLinda (voice)
Mike RiandaAaron / Furbies / Talking Dog / Wifi Enthusiast (voice)
Eric AndréMark (voice)
Olivia ColmanPAL (voice)
Fred ArmisenDeborahbot 5000 (voice)
Beck BennettEric / PAL Max Robots (voice)
Chrissy TeigenHailey Posey (voice)
John LegendJim Posey (voice)
Lo MutucAbbey Posey (voice)
Blake GriffinPAL Max Prime (voice)
Directing
- Jeff RoweCo-Director
- Mike RiandaDirector
- Peter SzilagyiScript Coordinator
Writing
- Guillermo MartinezHead of Story
- Andrew James RossStory Artist
- Ben MansfieldStory Artist
- Brandon JeffordsStory Artist
- Caitlin VanArsdaleStory Artist
- Hanna ChoStory Artist
- Justin HuntStory Artist
- Kasey FagerquistStory Artist
- Koko ChouStory Artist
- Myke BakichStory Artist
- Quinne LarsenStory Artist
- Rachel KralStory Artist
- Ray XuStory Artist
- Vitaliy StrokousStory Artist
- Jeff RoweWriter
- Mike RiandaWriter
Production
- Mary HidalgoAdditional Casting
- Brittany N. GroomsCasting
- Tamara HunterCasting
- Carey SmithCo-Producer
- Dan ChubaCo-Producer
- Vanessa ChoyCo-Producer
- Louis KooExecutive Producer
- Will AllegraExecutive Producer
- Christopher MillerProducer
- Kurt AlbrechtProducer
- Phil LordProducer
- Matthew SharackProduction Manager
Recommended by
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, How to Train Your Dragon, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Lego Movie, Toy Story 5, The Wild Robot, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem