“Boys Go to Jupiter”

5:25 p.m. April 12

Central United Methodist Church

215 N. Capitol Ave., Lansing

The gig economy. Capitalism at large. Alien creatures. Dolphin-human hybrids. Growing up in the suburbs with little to do. “Boys Go to Jupiter,” screening April 12 at Central United Methodist Church, tackles all this and more through a colorfully animated and superbly soundtracked coming-of-age story unlike you’ve ever seen before.

High school dropout Billy 5000, who spends his days delivering meals around his small Florida town for the predatory app Grubster, is on a mission to make $5,000. Along the way, he becomes wrapped up in a conflict with an evil juice manufacturer, develops feelings for the juice manufacturer’s faux-communist daughter and meets a cast of zany characters, including a gelatinous creature shaped like a donut, a slug-like alien and a man with an affinity for watching delivery drivers chew up hot dogs.

If the plot sounds bizarre, it’s well supported by the unique, vibrant animation, which in some scenes leans almost into psychedelic territory. The lo-fi soundtrack, with a mix of upbeat, dreamy background songs that could be radio hits and playful musical numbers about the delicious food the aliens find on Earth’s surface, is the perfect accompaniment.

“Boys Go to Jupiter” is a visual and sonic feast that will also tug at your heartstrings. With a universal theme of trying to better your situation in a world that seems to be trying to keep you down, as experienced by a 16-year-old boy, this surreal film will leave you with a list of questions, the first being, “What did I just watch?”