Movie Thoughts: Elio (2025)

 

• Released: June 12th, 2025
• Directed by: Adrian Molina, Domee Shi, Madeline Sharafian
• Running time: 1h 38min
• Rating 3.5/5

Synopsis

A boy is taken into space, where he pretends to be Earth's leader and is tasked with making peace between the evil Lord Grigon and the other alien races.

My Thoughts

Not a movie I was particularly excited to see as I'm notoriously just not very interested in alien and science fiction stuff, but honestly this movie wasn't half bad. It was quite enjoyable even.

It's visually a very good-looking movie. I've seen some people complain about the "bean mouth" style but it doesn't bother me. The designs in this movie can honestly get really creative and I liked seeing the many different alien races as well as the unique settings the Communiverse contains. The animation was also just very well-done, as is to be expected with Pixar.

The highlight in the movie for me was the relationships between the characters, though. Particularly the ones between Elio and Glordon, and Elio and his aunt Olga. These relationships are all rather well-developed and I enjoy seeing them grow. Also, while more minor, I also liked how they handled the relationship between Glordon and his father. 

The characters in general are pretty good. I related immensely to Elio and Glordon and their friendship was just really wholesome to see develop. The other aliens leading the Communiverse were more simple in personality and purpose, but they did all stand out and were enjoyable characters. Olga is a great character I really found myself rooting for as well. And then finally there's Grigon who may not be as evil as he initially seems. It's good stuff.

So yeah, while the concepts of aliens and spaceships still don't really speak to me (I don't think they ever truly will), this movie does appeal to me because it has a strong core in its characters and their relationships. 

There is one thing I wasn't as into which was the whole liar revealed cliché that takes place at one point, but honestly they got over it pretty quickly so thankfully the movie didn't linger on it for too long.

So yeah, maybe not perfect or anything, I don't think this is one of Pixar's best, but it does deserve to be seen. It's a cute and wholesome movie and has some really neat characters in it. And if you do like space or aliens I'm sure it'll appeal to you even more.