Flora Buckman is a cynical ten-year-old girl who loves comic books and expects bad things to happen. Her parents, George and Phyllis, have separated after both adults lose hope in their work and marriage. Flora rescues a squirrel from a runaway vacuum and names him Ulysses. The squirrel seems to gain super strength, flight, and the power to write, which sends the family into a funny and strange chase.
The movie presents Flora as a girl who can be funny, rude, brave, and interested in comics while leading the adventure. Her choices give the film a mild girl-empowerment message, but they mainly support a story about hope and family repair. William's friendship adds another child dealing with pain and fear, while Ulysses gives the family a reason to work together. The warm tone mixes silly superhero action with serious moments about separation, failure, and caring for people and animals.
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Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Flora & Ulysses.
Woke representation / casting
The film gives its central hero role to Flora, a ten-year-old girl who leads the rescue and saves Ulysses. A 2021 interview frames the female lead and female director as “breaking down barriers.” The same coverage says the film lets a girl be funny, rude, and wild like boys. The supporting cast includes a black female doctor and a South Asian animal-control officer, but their identities are not story issues.
15%
Woke political dialogue
Not present. The characters discuss hope, family, work, comic books, and animal rescue rather than current politics, identity, or activist causes.
0%
Identity-driven story themes
The film makes Flora a girl who leads the action, saves the animal, and helps repair her family. The story presents girls' humor and interests as normal rather than as boy-only traits. This mild gender-stereotype challenge stays secondary to hope, family, friendship, and fantasy.
16%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Not present. The story shows separated parents, a failed office-store job, and a harsh animal-control officer. It does not turn family life, work, masculinity, Christianity, or another Western institution into a modern activist critique.
0%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The film changes some book details, including George's work as a comic-book creator, to connect him to Flora's world. Those changes do not recast an identity or push a DEI message.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Not present. The separate X pass found no anti-woke posts or campaign. Web coverage and audience threads discuss family separation, humor, and disability jokes instead.
0%
Creator track record context
Lena Khan's public work and comments stress authentic Muslim representation and diverse casts. Brad Copeland and Kate DiCamillo show little or no matching activist pattern. The producers and casting director show only limited links to identity-focused stories.
63%
Production
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