Elio (2025)
While it may not mark a return to the golden-age Pixar of the '90s and 2000s, Elio is still a fun family film about a friendship between a lonely boy and an alien.
Elio is living with his aunt after the
death of his parents. Lonely and grieving, Elio struggles to connect with
others. Part of it is other kids being mean to him, but part of it is his own
awkwardness and unwillingness to give others a chance. Obsessed with aliens, he
sets up elaborate signs begging them to abduct him.
Eventually, he is abducted by aliens
who mistake him for Earth's leader. They want his help in negotiating with the
aggressive alien despot Grigon. Elio eventually befriends Grigon's son Glordon.
Glordon is also a social outcast, so the two bond.
Elio moves briskly across its
99-minute running time. The alien world is bright and colorful, and there are a
lot of imaginative touches, such as one where Glordon thinks on his feet to
rescue Elio from a rushing lava flow. It also gets good comic mileage of a
subplot where the aliens clone Elio. The film's themes of giving others a
chance and learning to speak up for yourself are important ones for young
viewers to learn.
There may not have been a great movie
yet this summer, but the offerings have been generally solid (Mission
Impossible: The Final Reckoning for action nuts, Materialists and The
Life of Chuck for adults, Elio and Lilo & Stitch (2025) for
families, 28 Years Later for horror fans). There are far worse things
for a movie summer to be than "solid."
