ELIO -- Are We Alone?

Review by Adam Donato

Summer 2025 is in full swing and Elio seems to have fallen under the radar. Just a year ago, Pixar saw one of their biggest box office successes in the form of Inside Out 2. If only Elio was a franchise, then maybe it would warrant an amount of effort on marketing. With the dominant box office of live action remakes of Lilo & Stitch and How To Train Your Dragon, maybe audiences are just turned off to animated movies. That’s why Predator: Killer of Killers got dumped to streaming, while Predator: Badlands gets a theatrical release. At least Pixar is done sending their original animated movies straight to Disney+. Elemental had legs at the box office so hopefully Elio can replicate its success with good word of mouth. Pixar has not won Best Animated Feature at the Oscars since Soul, can Elio bring optimism to critics of the studio?

This Animated film is helmed by Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi. Sharafian previously wrote and directed the short Burrow and Shi did the same for Turning Red. The character of Elio is similarly hyperactive like Meilin Lee from Turning Red. The title also continues the Pixar title trend of just using the main character’s first name like Luca and Coco (grandma’s name sure, but similarly also about the life of a young boy). It’s also similar in character design as these other Pixar movies of late. While Elio is a well animated movie, Pixar is certainly not the class of animation right now. It’s funny that all these live action remakes are out in its midst because the alien characters of Elio would look disgusting. 

It’s a wonder Pixar isn’t pushing Elio harder since this film is absolutely delightful. After seeing the film, it must be just a reliance on good word of mouth. Let the quality speak for itself or if it bombs then use it as an excuse to make more reliable sequels and spinoffs. The only competition Elio has for Best Animated Feature right now is Dog Man, which definitely does not have the artistic prestige necessary to garner a win. As if sequels to Zootopia, The Bad Guys, Smurfs, and SpongeBob are poised to be met with high brow acclaim. Indie and international animated films have dominated the award for the last three years, but Elio is destined to be the premiere mainstream option.

Interesting how there’s two Disney films this summer that center around a broken family relationship between a child that has trouble fitting in and their female family member who has to sacrifice career opportunities in order to try to take care of the child after their parents died. While Lilo & Stitch cops out when resolving this dilemma, Elio delivers in stride. The true heart of the film is the relationship between Elio and his aunt, voiced by Oscar winning actress Zoe Saldana. Not only that, but this relationship delivers the funniest Pixar joke in years. The film is very overt and clear about what its themes are and they flow through these two. 

Elio rivals Dog Man for the funniest family film of the year. This movie just proves how much better animated child characters are than live action children when it comes to performances. The live action Lilo fumbled every joke, but Elio in contrast is such a funny little psycho. He’s just such an endearing and flawed little boy to follow in the film. He has such a defined character arc and leads the film well. The supporting alien characters all have such interesting designs and silly quirks. It’s just nice to watch a big expensive movie like this that’s full of personality. 

Elio deserves to be in theaters that are packed full of families. The allure of the familiar when it comes to these live action remakes is safe and strong, but children deserve new stories on the big screen. While Elio isn’t like classic Pixar movies, it stands among the best of the Pixar movies from the past fifteen years. Sharafian and Shi appear to be inner circle Pixar directors for the foreseeable future. Expect Elio to be in the mix come award season. The quality of the film has the potential to be a huge hit and a big win for original blockbusters. 

​Elio will be in theaters on Jun 20.

Rating: 5/5