Ron’s Gone Wrong premiere: On the red carpet with Liam Payne, Kylie Cantrall, Sarah Smith and Octavio E Rodriguez

Ron’s Gone Wrong is the new animated film tackling the world’s relationship with technology via a story of the friendship between a kid and his malfunctioning B Bot (think a cute toy version of Alexa). Director Sarah Smith has called it a child-friendly twist on Spike Jonze’s Her.

None other than One Direction’s Liam Payne has lent his vocal talent to the soundtrack with single Sunshine, as well as voicing a character in the movie alongside the likes of Olivia Colman and Rob Delaney.

The Upcoming had the pleasure of joining the cast and creatives behind the movie on the red carpet for the BFI London Film Festival 2021.

Payne chatted about being a Disney fan since childhood, lending his voice to the movie to make his son proud, and the originality of the topic: “I really think this film is going to be a modern classic in a way – it’s the first time Disney have really used technology as the storyline and it’s the world we know and live amongst.”

Kylie Cantrall spoke about the experience of being a voice actor on the film, her character and why she thinks it will resonate with 2021 audiences: “I think we all kind of get caught up in social media, and it has just a great message about being unique and embracing who you are, and it’s okay to be different.”

Director Sarah Smith told us how the idea for the story first came to her: “I was watching the Spike Jones film Her and I thought, ‘We have to make a version of that movie for kids; we have to find a way to put into fun animation the whole idea of our relationship with screens and with the online world.’ And at the same time I was aware that the most important thing in the lives of my daughter and kids around her – and all of us really – was friendship and it was about what was happening to friendship in the world of social media etc.” 

Co-director Octavio E Rodriguez spoke about the inspiration behind the film, the cast, including Zach Galifianakis, and how the creators wanted the animation to look and feel: “I think the biggest thing for us was trying to make sure that we had the heart and the emotion behind it. That was really important to us, especially in the animation and the acting.”

Co-director Jean-Philippe Vine also told us more about the story, working with the cast and what he thinks the film is about at its core: “It’s really talking about what happens to us when maybe we put too much of our sense of self through the lens of social media. It’s also about making friends that are similar to you, friends that like the same stuff and do the same things, which happens a lot through online relationships. When we take all of that away, we wanted to portray a friendship that’s just based on those kind of raw and messy and complicated and fun things that make a real friendship.”

Writer Peter Baynham also shared his thoughts on the making of the film and what it has to say about contemporary culture: “It’s an exploration of what we’re living through, which is a kind of fun, scary time.”

Producer Julie Lockhart also shared her insights on the making of the film and what she hopes its impact will be: “For me, it’s about how we view friendship in this modern world, what it means to have a friend on your social media versus a friend that you spend your days with and live with. So it’s just a conversation really for people to talk about. Because we as parents specifically were brought up in a very different world to our children. It’s a conversation so that they can understand each other’s point of view really.”

 

Here are some more of the red carpet arrivals:

Sarah Bradbury
Videos: Marta Starczynowska

Ron’s Gone Wrong is released nationwide on 15^th October 2021.

Read more reviews and interviews from our London Film Festival 2021 coverage here.

For further information about the festival visit the official BFI website here.

Watch the trailer for Ron’s Gone Wrong here: