Elio

Review: Pixar’s newest film, this one was able to capture some of the magic the studio has struggled to find in recent years, though this film doesn’t even sniff the heights of Pixar’s golden age. Starring the voices of Yonas Kibreab as the titular character and Zoe Saldaña as the boy’s aunt and guardian, we follow young Elio as he willingly gets abducted by aliens as he searches for a sense of belonging. Both of the leads give very solid vocal efforts, with other strong performances from Remy Edgerley (who plays an alien friend Elio makes), Brad Garrett, Jameela Jamil, Matthias Schweighöfer, Brendan Hunt, & Shirley Henderson. The film does some cool things visually & introduces us to some interesting characters, but we really don’t get to spend enough time with any of them to form any connections. I like it’s connection to some real life events (particularly the Voyager 1 spacecraft) and there are some very high potential characters (I really liked the brief interactions we get to see between Elio & the young boy, Bryce) that lay some solid foundations. I will say that I appreciate Pixar putting out an original film, so good on them.

High: The film had a some positive things going for it. It had some cool character designs, solid voice work, and decent visuals. But I am having a hard time finding a high because the film is just very middling…

Low: The low is that the film is just very middling… It wasn’t bad, but I feel as though it did little to set it apart and make it memorable. I think it’s worth a watch, especially if you have younger kiddos, but I don’t think it’ll go down as anyone’s favorite Pixar flick.

Rating: 6.5/10

Rec: I mean if you want a good coming of age Pixar story there are a good amount of options. But the film I found myself thinking about the most while watching this one was ‘Luca’ which was superior. So go watch ‘Luca’ on Disney+.