10/12 ForReel Score | 4/5 Stars

Among the numerous conversations about how sequels and remakes plague our modern movie landscape, something I hear far too little of is the impact of this trend on family moviegoing. When I was ten, we had gems such as Wreck-It Ralph, ParaNorman, and Brave, whereas ten-year-olds today are subjected to live-action remakes of Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon or corporate-mandated sludge like A Minecraft Movie. Even Pixar, the family-film frontrunner for as long as I’ve been alive, has succumbed to the sequel/remake vacuum, with Incredibles 3 and Toy Story 5 coming around the corner. To put it plainly: the kids deserve better. Less than a year after Inside Out 2, Pixar returns with Elio, an earnestly sweet story about a misfit boy who becomes the ambassador of the Earth amidst first contact with aliens.

Pixar’s always been ahead of the curve when it comes to 3D animation, and Elio might be their most visually dazzling film since 2020’s Soul. Being a movie about aliens, Elio takes the Monsters Inc. route when it comes to designing distinct creatures and characters, with lots of funky aliens that’ll surely have plushies or action figures come the film’s release. There’s a rich originality to Elio that pairs wonderfully with Elio’s youthful enthusiasm about being in an alien spaceship (dubbed the “Communiverse”). Elio revels in its sci-fi genre trappings (bonus points for the Terminator 2 and 2001: A Space Odyssey references) without feeling generic, and is just teeming with originality. Like all the best Pixar films, it’s so easy to get lost in the endless charm of Elio, regardless of how old you are.

The concept of a child becoming friends with aliens isn’t exactly anything fresh, but Elio succeeds in its depiction of childhood alienation through said concept. Elio (Yonas Kibreab) doesn’t exactly get along with the people around him, particularly his aunt, Olga. After being orphaned and left in the care of Olga (Zoe Saldaña), Elio struggles to fit in and feels unwanted, a common occurrence for kids his age. Elio’s a complex character with desires and many flaws, to the point where he can be hard to sympathize with sometimes, but that’s what kids are like. They can be frustrating, impossible to reason with, but also full of joy and wonder. Even if it’s a movie about aliens of all shapes and sizes, Elio still tells a cute and deeply human story about a boy who’s alone in a great big universe.

Elio’s ensemble voice cast is phenomenal, but Elio primarily hinges on the camaraderie between Kibreab and Remy Edgerly, the voice of Elio’s alien buddy, Glordon. Their rapport is endearingly natural, and the two share some of the film’s funniest jokes, of which there are plenty. It’s one of those movies that’ll have the kids laughing for sure, and the grown-ups are sure to get a good chuckle or two out of this movie. It’s got that tongue-in-cheek Pixar sense of humor with a healthy serving of slapstick, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t laugh out loud multiple times. It’s not as star-studded a cast as the usual Pixar film, but the voice acting is still as expressive and animated as ever.

As funny as Elio is, the core drama between Olga and Elio is what makes the film worth the price of admission. It’s got that usual Pixar punch that feels very reminiscent of Inside Out and Monsters, Inc., with that alienation between guardian and child being the driving force of the narrative. There’s a similar setup to Lilo & Stitch in the way that the younger’s youthful enthusiasm (what some would call naivety) tends to bother the older, and that estrangement is paid off through a heartfelt hero’s journey story and an anti-cynicism redemption arc. The subplot between Glordon and his overbearing father parallels the setup between Elio and Olga, and it’s capped off with a tender moment between father and son that elicited the biggest, goofiest grin on my face.

In terms of original films, it’s been a pretty rough year for the kids, and God only knows how the parents feel when they have to take their kids to the lowest-common-denominator in terms of entertainment. I pray that Elio has a similar success to Pixar’s Elemental, which made a boatload of money despite slim odds. I highly doubt Elio will be a billion-dollar success like Inside Out 2, but it’ll certainly earn Pixar its semiannual Animated Feature Oscar nomination at the very least. Awards or no awards, Elio is a delightful family flick with all of the trademark charms of Pixar’s best work, and is sure to appease kids, adults, and everything in between.

Movie Review: "Elio" - Pixar's Latest Original Story - Is A Work Of Heart