Elio
Elio
Elio, a space fanatic with an active imagination, finds himself on a cosmic misadventure where he must form new bonds with alien lifeforms, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions and somehow discover who he is truly meant to be.
Alex | Pop Culture Brain reviewedJune 20, 2025
Finally a movie that proves: comparison is the thief of joy
I saw Pixar’s Elio so here's the good and bad without spoilers
It's been a long road to the screen for Elio
After multiple rewrites, a year-long delay,
and a budget that allegedly ballooned to $300 million
But you can hardly tell in the final product
Which turned out pretty good
The script is well paced
with engaging characters and entertaining set pieces
There are a number of clever jokes and funny visual gags
The story comes with an important message about loss, parenthood, and friendship
The outer space visuals especially the aliens are bold and creative
And the voice performances are dialed in, even from the younger cast members
Now that said, the visual style on Earth is pretty generic
The story isn't all that new or original
The themes are very overstated - there's no sense of subtext
And the story’s resolution felt a bit rushed and convenient
I think a lot of people are going to say this a miss for Pixar
And when you compare it to the studio’s greatest works
Yeah, it's not as good those
But that doesn't make this a bad movie
As I said before: comparison is the thief of joy
And two things can be true: Elio is a pretty good movie.
From a studio that has made some of the best animated films of all time
Can we be Ok with that or does every Pixar movie have to be a masterpiece?