Movie · 2020 · Family, Comedy, Drama · 1h 33m · PG · English
Curator score: 2.1/10 (32.4K ratings)
It's never too late to discover who you are.
Overview
A gorilla named Ivan who’s living in a suburban shopping mall tries to piece together his past, with the help of other animals, as they hatch a plan to escape from captivity.
Ratings
Curator score: 2.1/10
IMDb: 6.6/10
Letterboxd: 2.97/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 72%
Metacritic: 58
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Thea Sharrock
Production
Allison Shearmur Productions, Digital Makeup Group, Jolie Pas Productions, Walt Disney Pictures
Cast
Bryan Cranston, Sam Rockwell, Brooklynn Prince, Angelina Jolie, Danny DeVito, Ariana Greenblatt, Helen Mirren, Phillipa Soo, Mike White, Ron Funches, Chaka Khan, Ramón Rodríguez, Owain Arthur, Kevin Mathurin, Hannah Bourne, Betsy Graver, Beckett Handley, Larry Ridley, Eleanor Matsuura, Kriss Dillon
Curator Review
Verdict
A gentle, emotionally sincere family film with solid voice performances and polished visual effects, but it stays very safe and often feels formulaic. It works best as a low-stakes, kid-friendly watch rather than a standout Disney adaptation.
Best for
families with younger kids
viewers who like sentimental animal stories
fans of short, easy streaming movies
audiences looking for a mild tearjerker
Skip if
you want original or surprising storytelling
you are tired of talking-animal CGI family films
you prefer sharper humor or deeper character writing
you want the real-life story told with documentary-level depth
Overview
The One and Only Ivan is exactly the kind of modest, well-meaning family movie that can slip by without making much noise. It has a clean emotional arc, a sympathetic lead, and enough charm in the ensemble voices to keep younger viewers engaged. The visual effects are generally strong, and the film understands how to aim for warmth without becoming aggressively sugary.
Worth noting
What holds it back is familiarity. The script follows a very familiar rescue-and-freedom template, and several beats feel engineered to land rather than discovered naturally. Even so, the movie’s sincerity goes a long way, especially when it leans into Ivan’s memory, loneliness, and the idea of animals as a found family.
Bottom line
If you’re in the mood for a brief, accessible streaming family film, it does the job. If you’re hoping for something more emotionally layered or more inventive in its storytelling, this one is pleasant but not essential.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Sam (2.5★) · 183 likes
Better than Artemis Fowl in every conceivable way!
While it may not be great, The One and Only Ivan certainly succeeded at what it was trying to do: tell a fun and entertaining story for kids. It’s about 90 minutes and has fun characters. The visual effects worked and were rarely distracting. The score was pretty nice too. My biggest problem with the movie is actually Sam Rockwell. I love Sam Rockwell, but his voice felt sort of out of… more
Vishwas Verma 🟠🟢🔵 (3.5★) · 158 likes
🦍🐘🦮🦜🐇🦡
Inspired by the true story of Ivan 🥺🥺Emotional, heartwarming... very beautiful ♥️♥️
Ruby and Julia are so cute, Bob is awesome, Bryan Cranston did amazing but Sam Rockwell as Ian is something....
Sabrina 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ (2★) · 122 likes
WAIT WTF
MONKEYS ARE REAL???
san (2★) · 117 likes
oh my god it’s the one and only ivan
George Clark (3★) · 113 likes
2020 Releases Ranked-HERE
Disney’s newest release The One and Only Ivan is arguably the best out of the four Disney originals thus far this year. It’s a solid family film that’s easy to enjoy whilst also having a simple, yet enjoyable story as well as having quite good acting/voice acting from the whole cast throughout. The real story of Ivan differs quite a bit from the one that’s shown but Disney does take a lot of inspiration from the true… more