An asthmatic loner who lives with his eccentric Bulgarian grandmother (Olivia Colman), 13-year-old Barney Pudowski (Jack Dylan Grazer) is yet to crack the code for a successful social life. Enter Ron (Zach Galifianakis), a malfunctioning secondhand B-Bot acquired for his birthday: an iPhone-like device that mines his data to help him make pals. However, Ron is missing the algorithm for friendship (as well as his safety settings), and so the pair set about creating it together.
The debut feature from animation studio Locksmith is cute but familiar: boy meets bot, bot beats bullies, boy and bot become best buds. “It’s Mad Max meets Sesame Street!” reports a newscaster of the playground mutiny inspired by Ron. The film wishes.