‘Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made’ on Disney+: A Cute, Silly Movie About a Very Serious Kid Detective

Everyone knows at least one child who takes themselves very, very seriously, but is in fact, very, very silly. Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made—a new original film for Disney+ that premiered at Sundance Film Festival on Saturday—understands that, and understands how hilarious that is. The result of that understanding? A delightful romp that parents and kids will enjoy together.

A movie for kids is maybe an unexpected follow-up film for director Tom McCarthy, who won Best Picture for 2015’s Spotlight, a film about the investigative journalists who uncovered numerous cases of child sex abuse by Catholic priests. (McCarthy also directed and produced on the teen Netflix series, 13 Reasons Why, in 2017.) Timmy Failure—based on the book series of the same name by Stephan Pastis, who co-wrote the script with McCarthy—really couldn’t have a more different tone.

Our hero is an ambitious 11-year-old boy with an overactive imagination named Timmy Failure (played by actor Winslow Fegley). Timmy lives in North Portland, a city he believes is “rife with crime, corruption, and Russians.” Luckily, Portland has Timmy and his detective agency—and his imaginary polar bear partner, Total—to protect them. He rides around the city on a segway he stole from his mom, ponders cases of missing backpacks on the pier, and bemuses his friends with his stilted, professional demeanor.

Timmy’s mother (Ophelia Lovibond) and school counselor (Craig Robinson) take his weirdness in stride. Timmy’s teacher Mr. Crocus (Wallace Shawn) is less patient, particularly when it comes to Timmy’s creative stance on test-taking. Timmy’s sole focus is on his cases, and he’s just taken on his biggest case yet: The case of the dead class hamster. Well, that, and the unwelcome presence of local enforcement in his home, aka his mother’s new boyfriend, Crispin (Kyle Bornheimer).

The intricacies of the shenanigans that ensue don’t always make sense, as these things often don’t in a child’s imagination. But it’s endlessly fun to watch Timmy’s imagination spin various high-stakes scenarios out of the low-stakes situations he finds himself in. Fegley, who is also in the Disney Channel series Fast Layne, is pitch-perfect as Timmy. He rarely cracks a smile and delivers Timmy’s signature catchphrases—”That’s a demerit,” when he disapproves and “Mistakes were made,” when he messes up—with devastating precision. It’s hilarious.  And poor Wallace Shawn never gets to play the likable characters, but I like him very much anyhow.

If the film has a fault, it’s the muddled overall message. Most films come with a moral of some sort, but we generally expect movies for kids to have one that is strong, obvious, and useful for young audiences. Timmy Failure‘s message, which Timmy articulates in a speech to his classmates, is that he needs to learn to adapt to the real world while staying true to himself. But we don’t actually see him doing any adapting. In the end, he doesn’t give up his agency, his polar bear, or even his stolen segway. What exactly has changed from the film’s opening shot?

Maybe that’s a question best answered with a sequel. After all, there are seven of these books. Either way, Timmy Failure is 99 minutes of fun for parents and kids alike.

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made premiered at Sundance Film Festival on January 25 and will stream on Disney+ on February 7.

Check out the rest of Decider’s coverage at Sundance Film Festival.