101 min | PG | June 20, 2025 | Walt Disney Pictures
Pixar sends a space-obsessed misfit into the cosmos and remembers what made their early films special. This is heartfelt without being manipulative.
Pixar spent the last decade making sequels and forgetting how to tell original stories. Elio breaks that pattern. A young boy with an overactive imagination gets mistaken for Earth’s ambassador and pulled into an intergalactic crisis. He has to navigate alien politics and discover who he is meant to be. The premise gives Pixar room to create new worlds and explore themes of belonging and self-worth without recycling familiar characters.
Yonas Kibreab voices Elio with energy and vulnerability. The character is anxious and imaginative and desperate to prove himself. Kibreab finds all those notes without making Elio annoying or pathetic. Zoe Saldaña voices his mother Olga with warmth and concern. Brad Garrett voices Lord Grigon and brings theatrical menace. The alien designs are inventive and distinct. Each species has visual personality and cultural logic.
Madeline Sharafian directs her first feature after working on Turning Red and other Pixar projects. She understands the studio’s visual language while bringing her own sensibility. The space sequences are gorgeous. The alien worlds are rendered with color and detail. The emotional beats land without telegraphing. The humor comes from character instead of pop culture references that will age poorly.
This is Pixar remembering how to make original films that work for children and adults. The themes of identity and self-acceptance are handled with intelligence. The film trusts young audiences to follow complex ideas. The ending delivers emotional resolution without manufactured sentiment. This is what Pixar should be making.