Swapped Review: Building Trust
Swapped, by Nathan Greno, is a beautiful and thoughtful film about learning to trust others and yourself.
How do you rebuild trust in a community when it has been broken, especially when there are so many differences to overcome? This is the central question of Nathan Greno’s beautiful new film Swapped, now playing on Netflix. This movie blends vibrant, gorgeous animation with a simple yet profound story, providing a phenomenal viewing experience for adults and children alike.
Ollie (Michael B. Jordan) and his family of Pookoo live on a small island. Tiny woodland rodents, they must constantly harvest for their survival. One day, Ollie stumbles across a young chick trying to open a seed pod. Ollie shows her how it works, but before he knows it, she has shared it with her flock, bringing all of the Javen to come steal the Pookoo’s food. When Ollie discovers a way to confound the birds, but when he does, Ivy (Juno Temple) knocks the two of them into a pit where a mysterious pod switches their bodies. With the help of Boogle (Tracy Morgan), the two must try to find a way to swap back to care for their communities.
What you will notice first about Swapped is just how stunning the animation is. There are unique and interesting creatures that populate this world, and, aside from when the story requires it, this film is bright and engaging in the best ways. There are definitely a few truly goofy moments in the movie that will make kids giggle, but it’s hard not to connect with a pinecone hedgehog or a cherry blossom deer. The familiar made fantastical in this is truly wonderful. This will likely draw comparisons to 2024’s The Wild Robot, and while they’re not the same, there are enough similarities that if you enjoyed one, you will likely enjoy the other.
Obviously, the big draw for Swapped is the voice work of recent Academy Award-winner Michael B. Jordan. He and Juno Temple both give really wonderful performances, but Tracy Morgan really steals the show in this one. His performance is big, over-the-top, and perfect for the character. I really hope that this gets Morgan into more voice work, because he really was great in this.
But the reason this film worked was that while the story is straightforward and the themes are easy to grasp, Swapped approaches them with compassion and authenticity. There are moments of real peril in this movie, and I honestly thought the ending might be a bit more somber than it ultimately was, but it felt like real stakes for these characters, and the bond they form as they navigate their new experiences feels genuine.
I love stories that speak to friendship, so the buddy aspect of this was always going to be appealing. But what I really love are stories about friends who make each other better because they embrace their own unique attributes. Swapped includes that extra layer, making it something special. When the Javen are learning to fly, they say “flap or splat!” Swapped is likely to flap its way right into your heart.
Rating: 4/5
This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on May 1, 2026.
Aww, this sounds sweet.