Elio Film Review: Stunning Family Sci-Fi

Pixar’s latest film may be slightly underdeveloped, but Elio carries on the studio’s tradition of providing a moving family story with stunning animation.

Elio starts with a gut-punch of an opening scene, establishing the title character’s quirkiness, loneliness, and desire for something beyond Earth. The recently orphaned boy, now under the protection of his aunt Olga, a major in the Air Force, has trouble fitting in and connecting with those around him. When he is abducted by aliens in the Communiverse searching for “the leader of Earth,” Elio (Yonas Kibreab, of Sweet Tooth) thinks his greatest wish has been fulfilled but has to lie in order to stay with his newfound friends. He then has to navigate his own feelings while protecting the aliens from Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett, of Saturday Night), a powerful, warmongering (yet insecure) alien who will join the Communiverse…or else.

The plot itself is admittedly undercooked. Elio establishing his friendship with Glordon (Remy Edgerly, of Sing 2), Lord Grigon’s son, while fun and witty, could have been fleshed out more to elicit the full effect of the film’s final act. Much of the plot involves characters waiting around for other characters to accomplish a task, which leads to some awkward pacing. The best Pixar films are able to match their terrific animation styles with a story that flows. This one has that clear visual touch, but the story side suffers from some clunkiness.

What Elio lacks in narrative momentum, however, it makes up for in clever sci-fi genre subversions. This tactic from directors Madeline Sharafian, Adrian Molina, and Domee Shi gives Elio a world that feels familiar and fresh. The film flowers with its own exciting worldbuilding while paying homage to science fiction tradition.

In alien abduction movies, for example, the humans react with fear and trepidation when beamed up into a UFO. Here, Elio longs to be abducted, even writing messages in the sand on the beach like “Aliens, please abduct me!” This visual gag is not only as a fun joke, but it also serves the movie’s overall themes of longing and acceptance, simultaneously turning a trope over on its head. Other sci-fi concepts like cloning, intergalactic war, and supercomputers are used in similar ways here. Sci-fi fans will know the terminology and appreciate the homage to the Alien, Terminator, and Dune franchises along the way. 

Pixar films typically offer spectacular animation, and Elio takes those visuals into the stratosphere. The shots of the stars, space, and basically everything else are stunning and awe-inspiring. The little visual cues are just as effective, such as Elio’s facial expressions when seeing his aunt getting along fine without him on Earth. It’s classic “show don’t tell” storytelling. These types of visual moments make the emotions the film wants to portray that much more efficacious. Grappling with the very nature of human existence, Elio has the visual grandiosity to match such heavy ideas.

I thought about Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind quite a bit while watching Elio. Each generation of film fans needs movies like these to remind us of our place in the universe. You don’t have to believe in UFOs or aliens to have films like these encourage you, prompting you to remember that you are unique, that you are not alone. One of the alien ambassadors reminds Elio of this very truth in the film’s closing moments. Elio isn’t perfect, but it’s a meaningful, hopeful family sci-fi tale that reminds us all that we are, indeed, not alone.

Elio is now available to watch in US and Canadian theatres, in UK and Irish cinemas, and globally in theaters.