This heartwarming tale inspired by an incredible true story, displays true friendship and brings back the local townspeople to the relationships they all once had. The lengths that this penguin will travel to see the friends that he loves and to also continue his naturalistic needs that he must complete each year. An adventure that he endures twice a year to have the life that makes him happy.
During their later years, João Perei de Souza (Jean Reno), local Brazilian fisherman, and Maria (Adriana Barraza), Joao’s wife, seemed to be floating along throughout their lives. They both missed something that maybe kept them close or even gave them something to have a purpose for. Living on an island off the coast of Brazil is a basic life, most of the men fish for their livelihood and the women make things to sell at the market. Things are simple and everyone is close, but for Joao something seems to be missing.
After Joao rescued a penguin off the shore of his island and discovered he was covered in oil, he nursed him back to health. The penguin seemed to be attached to Joao instantly and they became friends. As he began to discover his comfort with the island, his attachment to Joao, and Maria became very strong. There seemed to be some sort of familiarity between them and their relationship was built from there. The penguin loved to explore and met many of the local townspeople. Here he met Lucia (Duda Galvão), daughter of Calista (Thalma de Freitas), who is a friend of Maria’s, and she named the Penguin DinDim.
DinDim would travel for half of the year and return to Patagonia, Argentina where he had a few scientist friends, researchers Adriana (Alexia Moyano), Carlos (Nicolás Francella), and Stephanie (Rocío Hernández). They were there studying the many different animals that inhabit the area including the penguins. Most of their studies were dealing with the penguin migration habits and their sense of survival. They became very interested in DinDim because of his strange behaviors. Here is where the discovery of this courageous creature’s talents began and the love for his friends.
Bringing this encouraging narrative to the silver screen gives us a gratifying and uplifting tale that will definitely bring joy to your heart. Director David Schurmann does an amazing job presenting the stories’ closeness and love between the two characters. He establishes a need between the two and then develops a strong relationship that carries the journey DinDim must face each year. Fantastic performance from all of the actors including Jean Reno and Adriana Barraza. Schurmann did a marvelous job blending in the 3D special effects and keeping it believable, in the rare scenes where it was impossible to film or too dangerous for the penguins to perform.
A beautiful account of this amazing true relationship between a man and his penguin friend that spanned eight years of their lives. Bringing this remarkable chronicle shows all of us the importance of the relationship between man and nature, from the deep blue sea and on its vast landscape. 
Final Comment: I based my grade on a wonderful touching storyline and the outstanding performance by the cast.
Stars 3.5 out of 5
Additional Film Information
Cast: Jean Reno, Adriana Barraza, Duda Galvão, Thalma de Freitas, Alexia Moyano, Nicolás Francella, and Rocío Hernández.
Directed by: David Schurmann
Genre: Drama, Family
MPAA Rating: Rated PG for thematic content.
Running Time: 1 hour and 37 minutes.
Release Date: August 16, 2024
Distributed By: Roadside Attractions
Release In: Standard