After his parents died, Elio (Yonas Kibreab) went to live with his aunt, Olga (Zoe Saldaña), but he never felt quite at home.  Elio, instead, would look to the skies, hoping that aliens would one day abduct him so he could start a new life on a new planet.  One night, his wish comes true, and, having been mistaken for the ambassador of Earth, he is welcomed aboard the Communiverse.  His excitement is cut short, and his miss-identity gets him in hot water when he is tasked with brokering negotiations between the Communiverse and Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett) who has threatened to destroy the Communiverse if they do not allow him to join their ranks. 

Elio is the latest offering from Pixar after being pushed out over a year from its original release date into the mid summer lull of 2025.  Directed by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina with Julia Cho, Mark Hammer, and Mike Jones providing the script, the coming of age film runs 98 minutes and boasts a wide cast of alien creatures; most lovable, few frightening.  Constantly oscillating between whether to focus on original stories or furthing the propagation of their existing IP, this wide release was a major commitment from Disney, though ultimately it does not seem to be a title that the parent studio fully believed in enough to promote through an integrated marketing strategy or merchandise so awareness still felt rather low going into opening weekend.  Cynically, it seems as if it was set up to be a test case for failure to cite the need for more sequels and reboots while shelving the original voices and ideas that made Pixar such a lighthouse in the early days of computer animation. 

The story of Elio opens and hinges on a tragedy, not in the same sentimental way as the iconic, short film-esque opening of Up (2009) which chronicles a lifetime of love cut short by loss, but rather bluntly delivered exposition by a worn-ragged aunt.  As Elio cowers under the cafeteria table, Olga explains that she has been looking after the boy after his parents died; a heavy way to open a film that is so heavily geared younger.  While Disney and its subsidiary studios have never shied away from dead parents in their storytelling, the trope feels gratuitous here in Elio, especially since it lessens Glordon’s (Remy Edgerly) role as a foil to Elio.  Glordon, son of Lord Grigon, heir to Hylurg, is hardly the war lord which his father expects him to be and the two are constantly at frustrated odds with each other while his mother is off fighting in The Blood Wars.  Having already set the terrestrial side of the story on a military base, it would not have been difficult at all to better mirror this parental relationship which the two young characters share so that they can better grow from each other, while also not simply relying on yet another set of dead parents to pump in some emotional vulnerability for the older audience who may have already lost one or both parents. 

Visually, the film is all over the place which means that its high points are quite great and the rest just feels uninspired.  In so far as the humans are concerned, the design follows the new era Pixar style guide to a T with smooth, round features that have been the norm in all first entries since Luca (2021).  The alien creatures fall into a similar well-trod territory and even though they all vary in shape and size, none of these supporting characters really break through the zeitgeist besides Glordon, though that is more because of his greater importance over the story.  The pillbug-looking alien – coincidentally not dissimilar from the Creepers in Bong Joon-ho‘s Mickey 17 (2025) – seems to be where most of the animation team spent their time.  A faceless and featureless creature safe for a wide mouth, it is impressive just how expressive they were able to make him. 

Additionally, the color palate chosen for the film is quite nice with its alien greens, electric blues, and neon pinks so that there is almost always a streak of exciting and interesting colors to take in.  While the character design, and even to a smaller extent the overall production design, stumbles, the visual strength of Elio lies completely in its use of colors.  These streaks stand out so well against the darkness of space that it helps the film wash over the audience and pick up at least the most basic framework of the plot through sheer osmosis.  Because the script is so bloated with half formed or abandoned ideas, it becomes disappointing to follow a thread that leads no where or takes a sharp turn in a different direction, but there is just enough going on visually that we stay with Elio on his journey. 

Despite stripping down some of the nuance that could have been there, Elio still is a largely effective story.  It follows all the similar arcs we would expect it to on a narrative level, and on a thematic level there is plenty for an audience to grasp on to; almost too much.  It feels very self-conscious of what it is doing instead of just letting Elio and his alien pals exist in their own world, the script feels as if it was heavily noted by the executive suite, desperately trying to curate a hit.  Unfortunately, that interference seems to have diluted its sense of originality and what remains is the shadow of a film that was much stronger in the development stage and then distilled and sterilized down into the very safe cut that hit cinemas and did not make a single headline; either box-office wise, a desperate outcry from a conservative leaning publication, or the hollow championing of Disney’s “first” X-type character from a more liberal outlet.  It is a rather forgettable film, which is a real shame because the pedigree behind it and the few kernels that were left untouched but covered under heaps of homogeneity show a lot of promise, but Elio as presented, is just the latest victim of the war between commerce and art.