An orphan boy with a brilliant mind builds the world’s first robot a century ago, unaware of how it will change his destiny. As his creation comes to life, it sparks awe, fear, and danger.

‘SPOILER ALERT’

The movie begins with a view of a big city at a train station. People are going about their day, working. A young boy, Hugo, is standing by a clock, peeking through it and looking at the people below.

After a while, he gets off the clock and goes through a series of tunnels to reach another clock. There, he notices a man sitting by his shop, working on a mechanical mouse.

As the man works, a girl named Isabelle approaches and talks to him. Hugo observes everything from the clock he’s in.

After the girl leaves, Hugo sees the man fall asleep and decides to steal the mechanical mouse. He slips through an opening and walks toward the man.

Just as Hugo is about to take the mouse, the man wakes up and grabs his hand. Shocked, Hugo freezes as the man threatens to call the cops and accuses him of being a thief.

The man orders Hugo to empty his pockets. Hugo reluctantly obeys, pulling out a cloth filled with various clockwork mechanical parts.

The man, Papa Georges, asks why Hugo has these parts, but Hugo refuses to answer. Papa Georges forces him to take out more, and Hugo takes out a notebook.

Papa Georges flips through the notebook and sees drawings inside. Assuming Hugo stole it, Papa Georges accuses him of lying when Hugo insists it belongs to him.

As they argue, a commotion begins when a police officer and his dog hear this. Hugo seizes the chance to escape.

The officer and the dog start chasing him through the train station, causing chaos. Finally, Hugo manages to evade capture when the officer’s clothes get tangled with a train. After escaping, Hugo runs and reaches a place with a large door.

He opens the door and steps inside a house filled with lots of gear. He closes the door behind him and picks up a small gear, then throws it in frustration.

Climbing a ladder, he begins working on another gear. Through an opening he just made, he peers outside and sees a man interacting with a woman holding a pet.

Smiling at the interaction, he climbs higher to view the beautiful city from another angle. After a moment, he climbs back down.

Hugo heads to Papa George’s shop, where Papa Georges sees him and becomes frustrated, asking what he wants and asking who his name is. Hugo introduces himself, but Papa Georges angrily tells him to stay away.

Hugo asks for his notebook, but Papa Georges claims he burned it. Shocked, Hugo keeps following him, pleading for the return of his notebook, but Papa Georges refuses.

Papa Georges leaves the shop and begins working on the street, with Hugo continuing to follow him. Eventually, they reach a place with intimidating statues.

They walk past the statues, and Papa Georges arrives at a house. He opens the door, slams it shut, and locks Hugo out.

Hugo looks up and sees Isabelle sitting by the window. He throws a stone at her window. She notices him, comes downstairs, and asks who he is. Hugo explains that her godfather took his notebook.

Isabelle defends her godfather, and insists he isn’t a thief. Hugo tells her that her godfather has something that belongs to him, and he cannot live without getting it back.

Isabelle asks why the notebook is so important. Hugo hesitates, saying it’s a secret. But her curiosity grows, and she keeps pestering him about the reason.

After some back-and-forth, Isabelle promises to make sure her godfather doesn’t burn the notebook but tells Hugo he needs to leave if he doesn’t want trouble. Hugo runs back to his hiding place, removes a garment, and reveals an automaton.

As Hugo looks at the automaton, he has a flashback of his father bringing it home. His father explained it came from a museum, but it was broken.

Hugo studied it with fascination and asked his father if they could fix it. His father agreed, and they started working on it together.

They made progress but couldn’t complete it because one piece was missing. Which is a heart-shaped keyhole.

His father tells him that this is another mystery. Hugo tells him that he can see his excitement whenever there are new things to solve.

Hugo’s father explains that they don’t have the key to the automaton, so their only option is to design and create one.

He starts working on the design for the key. One day, while Hugo’s father is working, he hears a strange sound coming from downstairs.

Startled, he follows the noise and opens the door, only to see flames engulfing the house. The fire quickly spreads to the room where he is working.

Back at the house, Hugo is working on the automation. The door opens and he excitedly turns, thinking it’s his father, and is about to share his progress.

But it’s not his father; it’s his uncle Claude, smoking a cigarette. Claude looks at him with a grim expression and delivers the devastating news that Hugo’s father has died in the fire.

Hugo starts crying, but Claude, without offering much comfort, tells him to come with him, as he will now be living with him.

As they walk, Claude explains that Hugo will be his assistant and will help maintain the clocks at the station where they will live.

Hugo asks what will happen with school, but Claude informs him that he won’t be going to school anymore, crushing Hugo’s spirits. Claude reminds him that without his help, Hugo would have ended up in an orphanage.

Afterwards, a funeral is held for Hugo’s father. Back in the present, Hugo watches from the clock as he sees the man and woman from the previous day interacting again.

This time, the woman’s dog bites the man, causing a commotion. Hugo can’t help but laugh at the scene.

After this, Hugo sneaks downstairs and steals a loaf of bread. When the cop from yesterday comes, he hides behind a pillar to avoid being seen. He manages to stay out of sight, clutching the bread he took.

The cop walks, but the metal brace on his leg begins to clink, drawing Isabelle’s and another woman’s attention.

They look up at him, and he quickly looks away and leaves. Hugo returns to Papa George’s shop as usual, asking for his notebook.

Papa Georges asks why the notebook is so important. Hugo replies that it’s crucial to fix something but doesn’t explain further.

Papa Georges hands him a handkerchief. When Hugo grabs it, he notices ashes on it and realizes Papa Georges has burned his notebook. Hugo starts crying, but Papa Georges coldly tells him to leave.

Hugo runs away, tears streaming down his face. He tries to hide his tears, but Isabelle reassures him that it’s okay to cry.

She tries to comfort him and takes him to the library to return a book. While there, they have a brief conversation with the librarian.

Isabelle then tells Hugo that Papa Georges is lying about burning the notebook; he hasn’t destroyed it.

He had a long discussion with her grandmother and the notebook made him upset. He even cried because of it.

This revelation surprises Hugo, and he asks her why she wants to help him. Isabelle says she loves adventures, then introduces herself and asks if Hugo likes books. Hugo replies that he does, explaining he used to read with his father.

Afterward, Hugo asks Isabelle what the plan is to retrieve his notebook. They agree to figure it out together and part ways.

Hugo returns to Papa George’s shop and asks for the notebook again. Frustrated by Hugo’s persistence, Papa Georges hands him the mechanical mouse instead and tells him to fix it.

Hugo works on the mouse and successfully repairs it. Impressed by his skill, Papa Georges realizes Hugo has a talent and proposes a deal: Hugo must come to the shop every day to work on whatever Papa Georges assigns.

In return, Papa Georges will decide later whether or not to give the notebook back. He tells Hugo this is the only way to prove he isn’t a thief.

Hugo hesitates, explaining he already has a job maintaining the station’s clocks, but Papa Georges insists.

Hugo finally agrees and starts working that very day. Over time, Hugo and Papa Georges begin to get along.

Papa Georges teaches Hugo magic tricks, and Hugo excitedly practices them. They continue working together. While working in the shop, Hugo sees Isabelle teaching dance.

At home, Hugo continues working on the automaton, but the key he crafted doesn’t work, leaving him disheartened.

Back at the shop, Hugo sees a boy being scolded by the police for stealing. The officer arrests the boy and takes him to the station.

Hugo secretly follows and watches as the officer talks on the phone, saying the boy will be sent to an orphanage.

While hiding, Hugo is noticed by the officer’s dog, but the dog doesn’t react. Hugo quietly leaves when the boy is taken away in a police van.

Hugo returns to the shop, where he and Isabelle talk. Hugo asks her about movies, and she admits she’s never seen one. Shocked, Hugo asks how that’s possible.

She explains that Papa Georges forbids it. Hugo shares that he used to watch movies with his father, but his tone turns somber, and Isabelle realizes his father has passed away.

Not wanting to upset him, she changes the subject. Hugo then asks Isabelle if she’d like to go on an adventure, and she agrees. Together, they head to the cinema.

Hugo manages to sneak into the cinema with Isabelle, where she watches a movie for the first time and becomes excited by the experience.

They laugh and enjoy themselves until the cinema guard notices them. The guard questions how they got in, pulls them aside, and throws them out, warning them never to return.

As they walk away, Hugo asks why Papa George forbids movies. Isabelle says she doesn’t know, only that movies have never been allowed in their house.

Hugo asks about her parents, and Isabelle shares that they died when she was a child and that her grandparents raised her.

Despite their strictness, especially about movies, she describes them as kind, and they both laugh about it.

Hugo tells her how much he loved watching movies with his father and how exciting it was. He recalls the first movie they watched together, and Isabelle notices how animated he becomes when talking about his father.

She tells him he reminds her of his father, which makes Hugo smile. When she asks where he lives, Hugo admits he lives at the station and explains the arrangements his uncle made for him to stay there.

As they walk, they notice a police officer approaching. Hugo tells Isabelle to act naturally and tries to avoid him, but the officer calls out to them.

Isabelle greets him warmly and introduces herself, explaining that she works at her godfather Papa George’s shop and that Hugo is her cousin from the countryside.

The officer seems suspicious, especially when his dog barks at Hugo, but Isabelle quickly covers, joking that the dog is reacting to her cat’s scent on Hugo.

She distracts the officer by reciting a poem, and he eventually lets them go, telling them not to loiter at the station.

After they walk away, Isabelle tells Hugo she just saved his life, so he owes her an explanation about where he lives. Hugo, unwilling to share more, gives her hat back and runs away.

Isabelle follows, insisting she is his only friend, but Hugo keeps walking through the crowd. Eventually, Isabelle loses sight of him and falls to the ground.

in her frustration, screams his name. Hearing her cry out, Hugo feels guilty and rushes back to help her. He finds her on the ground and notices a necklace with a heart-shaped key around her neck.

Surprised, Hugo asks where she got it, but Isabelle hesitates and demands to know why he wants to know. After some persuasion, Hugo takes her to his place and reveals the automaton.

Hugo explains that the automaton was something he and his father worked on before his father’s death. Isabelle, still confused, asks why the machine has a keyhole that matches her necklace.

Hugo says he doesn’t know but believes the automaton holds answers he needs. Isabelle, moved by his determination, takes the key from her necklace and hands it to him.

Hugo hesitates, worried he might make a mistake, but Isabelle encourages him. Finally, he places the key in the automaton, and it begins to move.

The automaton starts drawing something, but the lines seem meaningless and scattered. Frustrated, Hugo assumes the automaton is broken and angrily throws objects around.

Isabelle comforts him, and Hugo opens up, admitting he thought fixing the automaton would make him feel less alone.

As they talk, the automaton begins working again, completing a drawing. They approach it and realize it’s not random; it’s creating an image of a movie scene, the same one Hugo’s father saw for the first time. When the drawing is complete, the automaton signs it as Georges Melles.

Hugo and Isabelle are shocked, wondering why the machine would sign her godfather’s name. Hugo believes it’s a message from his father, and they decide to find out how it connects to Papa Georges.

Isabelle takes Hugo to her house, where they meet Papa Georges’ wife, Mama Jeanne. When Hugo introduces himself, Jeanne accuses him of being a thief, but Isabelle defends him. Hugo pulls out the automaton’s drawing and shows it to her. Seeing the image, Jeanne becomes emotional and sits on the couch.

She asks where Hugo got the drawing, and he explains it came from the automaton. At first, she didn’t believe him, but when she realized Isabelle gave the automaton her key, she understood.

Jeanne tells them to forget about the past and hide the drawing from Papa Georges, as she doesn’t want him to relive old memories.

Before she can send them away, Papa Georges returns. Panicked, she hides Hugo and Isabelle in the attic. As they hide, Hugo decides to look around while Isabelle keeps watch.

Hugo finds a compartment near the closet and points it out to Isabelle. She offers to help, saying she’s taller, and stands on a chair to reach it.

Inside the compartment, she finds a box and pulls it out. As she does, she nearly loses her balance but manages to steady herself.

However, moments later, she falls from the chair, dropping the box. Papers scatter across the room, fluttering in the air before landing.

The kids are mesmerized by the drawings on the papers, including some resembling those the automaton had created.

As they marvel at the artwork, Papa George and Jeanne enter the room. Papa George freezes, seeing the scattered papers. He picks them up, his hands trembling as he examines the drawings.

Jeanne tries to calm him, guiding him to the couch. Papa George sits down, overwhelmed and begins to cry. He looks at Hugo and tells him he trusted him but feels betrayed. He angrily calls Hugo cruel.

Hugo, unable to respond, runs out of the house, with Isabelle following him. After a brief conversation outside, Isabelle wishes him goodnight, and Hugo returns to the station.

As he enters, he stumbles upon the librarian, who notices Hugo picking up a dropped book. The librarian asks if Hugo is familiar with it. Hugo says he used to read it with his father.

The librarian then explains that he had planned to give it to his godson but now he is going to give it to him and gives the book to Hugo.

Back at the station, Hugo notices the police officer drinking tea with another woman. Hugo quickly hides, observing as the officer nervously talks about his crush, Lisette.

The woman encourages him to approach Lisette, and he eventually gathers the courage. When he does, he awkwardly compliments her flowers, trying to make small talk.

However, he loses track of the conversation and starts rambling about cows. Lisette doesn’t mind and he gently smells her flowers.

Suddenly, the clinking sound from his metal brace embarrasses him, and he tries to leave. Before he can, Lisette calls him back, sharing that she lost her brother in the war.

She touches his arm, places a flower in his chest pocket, and smiles before walking away. The officer is left flustered.

Meanwhile, at the library, Hugo and Isabelle dive into books about movies, eagerly learning about film history.

They discover information about the first movie ever made and stumble upon a reference to Georges Melles.

As they discuss, a man overhears their conversation and approaches them, curious about their interest in the specific movie. The kids explain that Georges Melles is Isabelle’s godfather.

The man is skeptical, claiming Melles is dead. The kids insist he’s alive and he is Isabelle’s godfather.

Hearing this, the man becomes excited and begins showing them pictures and stories about Melles’ work. He explains that Melles was not only a filmmaker but also a magician.

Isabelle asks if the man ever met her godfather, and he recounts the first time he saw Melles at a show.

He describes how Melles performed inside a room made of glass, mesmerizing the audience. Melles had given him advice about life and shared his creative vision, inspiring him deeply. The man believed Melles had died during the war, which is why he thought all his works were lost.

Hugo asks if the man has any of Georges Melles’ movies, but the man explains that most were destroyed or lost over time. However, he reveals they still have one film left and offers to show it to them.

After this conversation, Hugo returns to the clock and begins working on it. Isabelle asks if they should tell Jeanne about what they’ve discovered, but Hugo insists it should be a surprise, like a magic trick.

Suddenly, Hugo drops a screwdriver, which clangs loudly as it falls to the ground. Below, the cop hears the noise and assumes it’s Claude fixing the clock.

He shouts up, calling Claude a drunk and saying he shouldn’t be handling such delicate work. Hugo and Isabelle remain silent until the cop leaves.

Hugo then tells Isabelle that the librarian gave him a book. She smiles and says the librarian always does that; he believes in giving the right person the right book.

Hugo begins explaining why he loves fixing things. He feels sad when machines are broken because they lose their purpose, and he wants to restore them.

He relates this to Papa George, saying that after George lost his films and audience, he probably felt like he lost his purpose too.

That’s why he clings to the past. Isabelle listens quietly and admits she doesn’t know what her purpose is.

Hugo takes her to his favorite spot overlooking the city, saying it’s where he always reflects. After a moment, he tells her he’ll visit her house tomorrow and says goodnight.

The next day, Hugo works in the station, stealing bread for food as usual. While working, he notices a key lying on the railway tracks.

He jumps down to retrieve it and begins examining the carvings on it, completely absorbed. Suddenly a train approaches, and a man on the platform sees Hugo and yells a warning.

The train driver tries to stop, but the train is too close. In a panic, the train derails, crashing into the station and shattering the glass window.

Hugo wakes up in shock; it was all a dream. However, as he wakes, he hears tickling noises. Opening his chest, he sees gears inside.

Before he can process it, he begins turning into metal, transforming into a mechanical boy. He wakes again, realizing this was another nightmare.

Meanwhile, the cop receives a call about Claude, revealing that he is dead. The cop wonders if Claude is dead, who is working on the clocks.

Hugo and the man from the library, Tabard, visit Isabelle’s house together. When they arrive, Jeanne gets up and immediately asks what’s going on.

Isabelle tries to explain, but Jeanne insists Hugo isn’t welcome. With no other choice, Tabard interrupts, explaining that he’s a fan of Georges Melles work. As a child, Melles films inspired him and shaped who he became as an adult.

Hearing this, Jeanne softens and says she’s happy someone appreciates her husband’s work, but she explains that Georges is fragile now, and bringing up the past might harm him.

After a brief conversation, Tabard remarks that Jeanne still looks like the star she once was. The kids ask if she was an actress, and Jeanne tries to brush it off, saying it was a long time ago.

Tabard, however, reveals that she starred in all of Georges’ movies and was an incredible actress.

Tabard then asks if she wants to see herself on screen again, telling her they still have one of Georges’ films. Jeanne, stunned, struggles to believe it. She asks if he really has one of her husband’s movies.

At first, Jeanne refuses, claiming that all of Georges’ films have long since been destroyed. But Tabard persists, begging her to watch and proving that this cannot be the case.

After some pleading, Jeanne agrees, telling them to keep it quiet so Georges won’t overhear. Tabard sets up the projector, and the film begins to roll.

The screen brightens up now, and a film of Georges’ starts playing. Seeing this, Jeanne cannot control her emotions.

She begins to cry, overcome with excitement in her emotional turmoil. Isabelle, watching Jeanne in the film, is overcome with joy at the sight of her as a star.

Afterwards, Jeanne sits on the couch, crying tears of joy and nostalgia. Just then, Georges appears from behind, having watched the whole thing.

He steps forward and says softly that he would have recognized the sound of a projector anywhere. Jeanne, Isabelle, and Hugo turn toward him, stunned.

Shaking her voice, Jeanne tells Georges it’s time he stopped dwelling in the past and that he must let go. She begs him to stop hiding and running from the memories.

Georges looks deeply moved, but it’s Hugo who steps forward and speaks next. Hugo tells him he understands because he, too, loves fixing things.

He says it all started with the restoration of the automaton and how it made him realize that the most important thing in life is to give things back their purpose. On hearing this, Georges starts reflecting on his past.

Georges reveals that everything started with his career as a magician: he worked with Jeanne, running magic shows, and put all his passion into his craft.

His interest finally fell upon the automaton, which caused him to make elaborate mechanical constructions, to which he devoted all his time, efforts, and imagination.

One day, while he was out, the cinema drew his attention: he saw one of the first films ever projected and remained interested. Wanting to take part in this new area, Georges made several attempts to connect with the producers.

But this being a new thing, they refuse to share their work and experience. Undeterred, Georges decided to make his own camera.

He devoted all his energy and resources to building it. Using his savings, he created his own film production company and constructed the Glass House, a studio where he could bring his visions to life.

He began making films, with Jeanne as his muse and the love of his life, starring in every production.

Then, Georges continues with his story: he kept on making movies, putting his heart into that kind of work, until war came and everything changed.

Suddenly, nobody cared so much about his films anymore; his work was forgotten. Frustrated and heartbroken, he burned most of his films. In dire need of money, he sold the remaining tapes to a factory that melted them down to make heels for shoes.

With the few money he received, he opened the toy shop but could not bear himself to destroy the automaton, and gave it to a museum. He finally ends his story by saying that the happy ending was only for the movies, and not real life.

Hugo, visibly shaken, tells Georges he’ll be back and runs down to the station. Once there, he sees the cop and quickly hides.

While he is there hiding, he hears the police officer talking with other people that Claude has been dead for several months and nobody knows who has been winding up the clocks.

A woman’s dog sniffs Hugo as he hides, which attracted the cop to him. The cop finds Hugo, arrests him, and takes him to the station, locking him in a jail cell. He tells Hugo that he would be sent to an orphanage and immediately dials the phone to call one.

While the cop is distracted, Hugo picks the lock on the cell and runs. He is followed through the station by the cop.

Hugo sprints up the stairs and begins to climb through the large mechanisms of the clock. He retrieves the automaton and makes a run for it but is caught by the cop. During the scuffle, the automaton slips from Hugo’s hands and falls onto the train tracks.

As the train approaches, Hugo, cannot see the automaton destroyed and leaps onto the track. But before anything can happen to him, at an extreme close-up with the train’s wheels, he manages to catch the automaton and climb upwards to safety with the cop pulling him up.

Enraged, the cop scolds him for a risk he has taken. He tells him the orphanage is there to take him back.

Hugo begs, saying that he doesn’t belong in an orphanage. He has lost his father and needs to find out the truth of everything, which includes the automaton.

The two argue when suddenly Georges arrives and tells the cop that Hugo belongs to him. The cop reluctantly lets Hugo go. Hugo apologizes to Georges for the damage caused to the automaton, but Georges reassures him that it works perfectly fine.

A grand event is held much later to honor Georges Melles and show his restored films. Tabard reveals that he has found more than 80 of Georges’ movies, which were believed to be lost.

During the event, Georges is invited onto the stage. He gives a speech, saying how thankful he is to Hugo for fixing the automaton and helping him find his purpose once again. According to Georges, Hugo brought him back to life and gave him hope again.

After the speech, everyone attends a party that is fun and full of happiness. Hugo also finds a new family and house with the Melles and Isabelle.

Isabelle also starts her own project. She starts to write about Hugo’s story and starts writing on her notebook.

The story teaches us that the determination of Hugo to fix the automaton and Georges’ journey into his past show how embracing purpose and facing forgotten dreams can lead to healing and redemption.

Hugo 2011.