I CRIED WHAT ABOUT IT

This is without a doubt bottom tier Pixar. I have to assume this was at some point a more interesting idea (before being retooled during production), because the movie we have here is really bland and unremarkable. Despite being so formulaic it can’t even execute the basic building blocks right. The main characters are very thin and the whole main arc of Elio and his aunt are completely sidelined during the middle chunk. Instead, we’re presented with this small scale sci-fi adventure that doesn’t thrill, excite and never manages to be funny. Even the animation style feels so old and behind the curve at this point. Forget competing with _The Wild Robot_ or _Spider-verse_, I’d argue this doesn’t even come to stuff like _Soul, Toy Story 4_ or _Coco_. Once Pixar’s character designs immediately expressed the entire personality of a character, but the aliens in this film look more like poorly designed Pokemon. It’s emblematic of the movie as a whole: it strongly lacks personality and soul. 3.5/10

I just got out of Elio, and I’m still a bit shaken in the best way. As always with Pixar, I had pretty high expectations. Not necessarily because I was overly hyped for this particular film, but because Pixar has always been a safe space for me. I grew up with their stories, and I’m deeply attached to the way they tell them. So even when a new release isn’t heavily promoted (which sadly was the case here), I still go in expecting something meaningful. And Elio really surprised me in the best way possible. It’s not Pixar’s most spectacular or visually ambitious film, but it has something even more important: heart. It’s sincere, it’s funny, and it moved me deeply. I even shed a few tears at times not out of sadness, but because it just hit something real. The film tackles themes like loneliness, the fear of not fitting in, imagination as a safe haven, and above all, the longing to be seen for who you truly are. Elio is a story about identity, about feeling out of place, and learning to turn that into strength. The mother-son relationship also really got to me. It’s portrayed with a rare mix of tenderness and clumsy honesty, something you don’t often see handled this delicately in animation. And Elio himself is such a beautiful character. He’s not a hero in the traditional sense, but he’s deeply human. And in a bizarre, cosmic world full of aliens and absurdity, that grounded emotional truth is what makes the story shine. What I loved is that the film never forces its message. It lets the emotion breathe. There are moments of genuine laughter, bizarre aliens, heartfelt silences and it all flows together in a way that feels natural and honest. Elio speaks to both kids and adults, not because it juggles jokes and morals, but because it touches on something universal: the need to feel understood and accepted. What saddens me, though, is that Elio might fly under the radar. The lack of promotion doesn’t reflect the heart and soul that clearly went into it. It may not be a Pixar film that pleases everyone, but it absolutely deserves to be seen, shared, and talked about. Thank you, Pixar. Elio spoke to me gently, but deeply.

If anyone is wondering why this steaming pile feels “off” or odd in certain places, it’s because development was started by one of the directors of Coco (2017), and then he stepped away from it and the project was handed to the feminist director that did Turning Red (2022). And of course, the first thing she did was make a bunch of dumb changes.

great movie. no politics or agendas here, just pure entertainment