‘Julián’ review: Latest animation from Ireland’s Carton Saloon is spirited Brooklyn-set coming-of-age drama | Reviews

Dir. Louise Bagnall. Ireland/Luxembourg/Canada/Denmark. 2026. 85mins

Warmth permeates Louise Bagnall’s spirited, happy coming-of-age picture Julián, the latest animation from Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon. It radiates from the screen in the sunbaked pavements of summer time Brooklyn, where kids scrawl chalk drawings and grannies do battle with dominoes. And it is infused in the story of a little boy’s self-discovery, his inventive expression and the love and acceptance he encounters. Adapted from the acclaimed LGBTQ+ themed children’s book Julián is a Mermaid by Jessica Love, this is a film whose message is delivered with an embrace rather than a lecture.

 Vividly connected to a place and community

Julián is the feature film debut of Bagnall, who is a inventive director at Cartoon Saloon and whose previous work includes writing and directing the Oscar-nominated animated tiny Late Afternoon, as well as character design for The Breadwinner. Premiering in Annecy, it is a delightful work which contains the wide-eyed sense of wonderr that tends to be something of a recurring theme for Cartoon Saloon pictures – which also include Wolfwalkers and Song Of The Sea – while also feeling visually distinctive and vividly connected to a place and community.

The Cartoon Saloon name alone should ensure interest from family audiences and animation fans; the film’s considerable charm could generate positive word of mouth within queer audiences. The picture has already sold to multiple territories, including UK, Ireland and Canada.

The big-hearted spirit of the source material, Jessica Love’s Stonewall Book Award-winning 36-page illustrated book, is central to the adaptation. But visually, the film departs from style of Love’s watercolour, gouache and ink illustrations, taking its cue instead from the artistic endeavours of its eponymous protagonist (breezily voiced by Knyght Darius Jack) – there’s a zingy palette of felt tip pen brights, with a generous sprinkle of glitter to top things off. We see the world through Julián’s eyes. And Julián’s eyes, drawn to things that shine and sparkle, see beauty and magic everywhere.

Julián hardly knows his Dominican grandmother, or Abuela (Milcania Diaz-Rojas), as she prefers to be called. But he hopes that his drawing of her as a giant sunfish, not to mention his extensive knowledge of ocean fish varieties, will make a good impression. There’s a bit of a rocky start – Julián rebels against her cooking, raids her jewellery box and creates havoc in the bathroom.

But for curious Julián, Abuela’s Brooklyn apartment is a kind of treasure box. There’s a opulent attention to detail in the interiors: everything from the tiles in Abuela’s kitchen to the contents of her fridge and the choice of houseplants in her verdant, overcrowded sanctuary of a living room feels like an extension of her personality. The flavours of the cultural heritage of Julián and his grandmother are also present in her cooking (they find common ground in a dish made from green plantains) as well as in the radiant, uplifting score by La-Nai Gabriel.

The neighbourhood in which Abuela has made a home since she left the Dominican Republic years before is equally stuffed with loving details. Julián is fascinated by the tropical fish tank in the corner shop run by Fran (Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz), an affable character who hands out free ice-pops and nuggets of ocean-based folklore to the local kids. And he bonds with three local girls who tell him about the Coney Island mermaid parade.

Suddenly, Julián knows with utter certainty that he must be a mermaid and take part in the ocean-front celebration. After an initial hesitation, Abuela does all she can to make his dream come true. And through her growing bond with her grandchild, with stars in his eyes (literally) and an imagination that knows no limits, she begins to reconnect with aspects of her own life that have become suppressed over the years.