The good old-fashioned family adventure is a genre unto itself, and one worth celebrating when kid-friendly films as good as “Bookworm” open events like Fantasia Fest 2024.

Director Ant Timpson and writer Toby Harvard reunite for their second scrappy feature following the 2019 cult horror hit “Come to Daddy.” This time, they’ve cast repeat collaborator Elijah Wood as a low-rent American magician (excuse me, “illusionist”) and an absentee dad who is suddenly conscripted back into parental service by an emergency overseas. For this crowd-pleasing comedy, the camera finds the former “Lord of the Rings” hero once again crawling the stunning landscapes of New Zealand — only here, Wood is part of a father-daughter odd couple and, acting opposite plucky kid hero Nell Fisher, he plays against Frodo-type as neither the short nor the brave one.