ELIO Review: Pixar's Latest Stirs Heart and Senses in Equal Measure

For moviegoers of a certain vintage, Elio, Pixar’s latest addition to its stellar-level animated output, will feel comfortably, nostalgically familiar.

 

Centering as it does on a starry-eyed preteen dreamer, Elio pays respectful homage to family-oriented 70s and 80s Amblin or Amblin-inspired science-fiction films, among them Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, The Last Starfighter, Explorers, and Flight of the Navigator.

 

Throw in semi-explicit nods to Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Galaxy Quest, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, not to mention Carl Sagan’s groundbreaking PBS miniseries, Cosmos, and the wholesomely endearing result will all but bring a tear to the eye and a tug of the heart for nostalgists of a certain age and inclination. 

 

Elio, however, is more than the sum of its references to the high-point of late 20th-century science fiction on film. For those unfamiliar with its throwback callouts, it’s still incredibly moving in its focus on a desperately lonely boy, the Elio Solis (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) of the title, and his obsessive quest for belonging somewhere out in the stars. For Elio, it’s an idea formed by a chance encounter with an immersive presentation of Voyager’s trip to outer space and the so-called Golden Record, a platter continuing greetings in dozens of Earth languages along with information of a scientific and historical nature. 

 

Orphaned before the film properly begins, Elio lives near an Air Force base with his aunt, Olga (Zoe Saldaña), a U.S. Air Force major in charge of a satellite and debris tracking program. Unexpectedly thrust into a full-time parental role, Olga naturally stumbles adjusting to such a disruptive life change.

 

In repeatedly stumbling, however, she alienates Elio even further, convincing her nephew she doesn’t want him in her life, at least not as a surrogate parental figure. Elio’s unexpected, not entirely wanted arrival has scuttled her plans to join the astronaut program, adding strain in their already frayed, unstable relationship. 

 

Newly obsessed with finding life beyond the stars, Elio repeatedly attempts to communicate with aliens, but doesn't succeed until a momentary lapse in security allows him to broadcast a message into outer space via the base's most powerful equipment. In turn, members of an alien UN (United Nations), the aptly named Communiverse, abduct a willing Elio. Inadvertently assuming Elio represents Earth as an ambassador or leader, the multi-colored, multi-form aliens welcome Elio with open appendages, giving him the home, the community he’s dreamed about since he encountered the Voyager presentation. 

 

Easier said than done, of course. Taking several pages from Galaxy Quest, the pacifistic aliens face an existential threat in the form of Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett), a worm-like creature encases in fearsome, clawed armor. A conqueror (worm) by nature, Lord Grigon doesn’t take the Communiverse's rejection of his membership application well, forcing Elio’s new friends to make Elio an offer he can’t refuse: Broker peace with Lord Grigon and join the Communiverse as a permanent member, with all the rights and privileges that membership affords. 

 

Elio doesn't qualify as a particularly deep film, less for its tangle of ideas and themes than how superficially those ideas and themes are barely examined or explored throughout the film. With the coming-of-age adventure plot front and center, though, that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone on the other side of the screen.

 

Even if that superficial approach pushes Elio from the Pixar's pantheon, it’s rarely less than moving, especially for anyone, regardless of age, ethnicity, or temperament, who’s ever felt alone, misunderstood by their family, their interests denigrated or dismissed, who dreamt (or still dream) of a community of like-minded peers to accept them without reservation, hesitation, or doubt. 

 

Unsurprisingly, Pixar-Disney’s deep pockets and the most creative talent available deliver transcendent, wondrous visuals. Once Elio eagerly leaves Earth for the Communiverse, Pixar’s animators bring their level-best creativity-wise to the alien menagerie and their flowing, undulating Möbius strip-inspired home among the stars. The Communiverse alone makes Elio worth revisiting for its awe-inspiring level of detail, detail likely missed on a first go-round through Elio and the title character’s deeply relatable personal journey.