Latest news with #ElioSolis
Metro
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Pixar film risks breaking devastating record despite being hailed 'dazzling'
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Pixar's latest offering Elio has wowed critics, but it looks set to make a devastating new record for the studio. The animated sci-fi film tells the story of 11-year-old boy Elio Solis (Yonas Kibreab) who dreams of being abducted by aliens after feeling out of place on Earth for so long. He is accidentally beamed up to the Communiverse, an organisation which has representatives from several galaxies, where he is mistakenly identified as Earth's ambassador. It currently holds an 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes among critics, but it could become the lowest domestic debut ever for Pixar. Box office reports from Variety show the film grossed $9 million (£6,6M) on Friday across 3,750 locations. It has been predicted that this could mean Elio will fall well behind 2023's Elemental, the film which currently has the lowest domestic debut, at $29M (£21.5M) The critics' consensus for the film could not be further away from its low box office, reading: 'Catapulted by its theme of building self-esteem, Pixar's latest cosmic wonder Elio boasts a fanciful world of original creations to dazzling effect.' 'Elio is another knockout, a quiet but determined shooting star that earns its place in the galaxy,' Tribune News Service wrote. Movie Mom added: 'Pixar's latest has everything we love about Pixar, a heartwarming story with endless imagination, charm, and wisdom, about an endearing character and the fears and joys of being human.' Others, however, pointed out the predictability of Elio's plot, with saying: 'Schmaltzy yet sincere, Elio, the latest from Pixar, is as predictable as they come but as tender as they can get.' Paste Magazine added: 'As a story about children finding a place to belong, discovering their true sense of self and realizing that parents and parental figures love you even when they don't always understand you, Elio is a lovely, if not particularly original story.' The Daily Beast summarised: 'For all its overt '80s homages, there's something timeless about Elio. too. It may be mid-tier Pixar, but that's still likely to make it one of the better animated offerings of the year.' More Trending Speaking ahead of the film's release, Kibreab opened up to Screen Rant about learning he had scored the role of Elio alongside Zoe Saldana who voices Elio's aunt Olga. 'I love all the Pixar movies and I watched them all the time and I still do today. And just to be in one, in an original Pixar movie, is such a pinch-me moment,' he said. They both reflected on what they had learned from each other while filming, with Emilia Perez star Saldana revealing, 'He's been teaching me how to be Alpha and Gen Z,' learning everything about 'rizz' and Skibidi Toilet. Elio is in cinemas now Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: I watched 28 Years Later despite hating horror films – scaredy-cats should too MORE: Netflix fans devour 'unrelenting' horror movie as sequel hits cinemas MORE: 28 Years Later director reveals 'nightmare' of shooting naked zombie scenes
The Advertiser
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Enjoyable Pixar flick is fun but not out of this world
Elio (PG, 98 minutes) 3 stars The latest Pixar animated release isn't among the studio's very best, but it's still a quality offering suitable for viewers of all ages. It begins briskly. Elio Solis (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) was adopted by his aunt, Olga (Zoe Saldaa), a major in the US Air Force, after his parents died. Their relationship is somewhat strained. Work keeps her busy but she's trying, and the 11-year-old boy is a loner still mourning his loss and finding it hard to connect with her or anyone else. He even made up a language he shared with his parents and now can only use it to talk to himself. Elio is a space buff with quite an imagination and this sustains him in his solitude. He is inspired by the Voyager spacecraft which was launched in 1977 and contained information about Earth as an interstellar message of hope (there is always the possibility this might backfire, like the increasing development of artificial intelligence, but there are plenty of movies about those dangers). The boy is fascinated by the possibility of alien life and wishes that extra-terrestrials would come and take him away from his lonely life on Earth. His obsession nearly costs his aunt her job and she takes him to a camp to get him out of her hair for a while. But he gets his wish: aliens come and beam him up, and at just the right moment. The aliens, who despite all their knowledge apparently haven't done much research about Earth, mistake him for the planet's leader. He's happy to claim the title and go to the Communiverse, an organisation with representatives from galaxies across the universe who come together to share knowledge in a peaceful way. He is being considered for the position of ambassador from Earth. The aliens are a varied and cordial bunch - this isn't dystopian sci-fi - except for the battle-mad Grigon (Pixar regular Brad Garrett), who aggressively demands admission to the club. Unsurprisingly, the Communiverse members are reluctant, and this only makes him angrier. To prove his bona fides, Elio undertakes to negotiate peaceful terms with Grigon. But he might be taking on too great a challenge. Grigon has a son whose name looks like a typo but isn't - Glordon (Remy Edgerly). The youngster is expected to follow in his father's fighting footsteps, but really doesn't want to, and unsurprisingly, he and Elio soon bond. There are some familiar tropes here of course but some inventiveness as well. The alien and space designs are good to look at, although some of the critters aren't very well differentiated (most don't have faces, which help to convey character). And the voice actors, not as starry as in some Pixar movies, are good. There are some funny lines ("My first probe!" Elio says gleefully at one point - no, not that kind of probe; this is a family film) and enjoyable situations but despite, or perhaps because of, there being several credited writers and three directors on the project, there are some flaws in the script and approach. The supporting characters on Earth aren't as well established or distinctive as they might have been, giving their reappearance at a crucial point less impact than it should have had. Even Elio and Olga could have been given a bit more time before the kid flies off so the audience gets to know them and their relationship better before the new setting and story direction. And the film feels a bit too dry-eyed, unusually for Pixar: while restraint is better than descending into bathos, some moments that should have been touching don't evoke much of an emotional response. The thought comes to mind that maybe there's not much at home for Elio to miss. Disappointingly, there's no short film preceding Elio, though there is a scene during the end credits for those who wait. Elio is an enjoyable Pixar film and, thankfully, not another sequel or reboot. It's just not quite up to the standard we've come to expect. Elio (PG, 98 minutes) 3 stars The latest Pixar animated release isn't among the studio's very best, but it's still a quality offering suitable for viewers of all ages. It begins briskly. Elio Solis (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) was adopted by his aunt, Olga (Zoe Saldaa), a major in the US Air Force, after his parents died. Their relationship is somewhat strained. Work keeps her busy but she's trying, and the 11-year-old boy is a loner still mourning his loss and finding it hard to connect with her or anyone else. He even made up a language he shared with his parents and now can only use it to talk to himself. Elio is a space buff with quite an imagination and this sustains him in his solitude. He is inspired by the Voyager spacecraft which was launched in 1977 and contained information about Earth as an interstellar message of hope (there is always the possibility this might backfire, like the increasing development of artificial intelligence, but there are plenty of movies about those dangers). The boy is fascinated by the possibility of alien life and wishes that extra-terrestrials would come and take him away from his lonely life on Earth. His obsession nearly costs his aunt her job and she takes him to a camp to get him out of her hair for a while. But he gets his wish: aliens come and beam him up, and at just the right moment. The aliens, who despite all their knowledge apparently haven't done much research about Earth, mistake him for the planet's leader. He's happy to claim the title and go to the Communiverse, an organisation with representatives from galaxies across the universe who come together to share knowledge in a peaceful way. He is being considered for the position of ambassador from Earth. The aliens are a varied and cordial bunch - this isn't dystopian sci-fi - except for the battle-mad Grigon (Pixar regular Brad Garrett), who aggressively demands admission to the club. Unsurprisingly, the Communiverse members are reluctant, and this only makes him angrier. To prove his bona fides, Elio undertakes to negotiate peaceful terms with Grigon. But he might be taking on too great a challenge. Grigon has a son whose name looks like a typo but isn't - Glordon (Remy Edgerly). The youngster is expected to follow in his father's fighting footsteps, but really doesn't want to, and unsurprisingly, he and Elio soon bond. There are some familiar tropes here of course but some inventiveness as well. The alien and space designs are good to look at, although some of the critters aren't very well differentiated (most don't have faces, which help to convey character). And the voice actors, not as starry as in some Pixar movies, are good. There are some funny lines ("My first probe!" Elio says gleefully at one point - no, not that kind of probe; this is a family film) and enjoyable situations but despite, or perhaps because of, there being several credited writers and three directors on the project, there are some flaws in the script and approach. The supporting characters on Earth aren't as well established or distinctive as they might have been, giving their reappearance at a crucial point less impact than it should have had. Even Elio and Olga could have been given a bit more time before the kid flies off so the audience gets to know them and their relationship better before the new setting and story direction. And the film feels a bit too dry-eyed, unusually for Pixar: while restraint is better than descending into bathos, some moments that should have been touching don't evoke much of an emotional response. The thought comes to mind that maybe there's not much at home for Elio to miss. Disappointingly, there's no short film preceding Elio, though there is a scene during the end credits for those who wait. Elio is an enjoyable Pixar film and, thankfully, not another sequel or reboot. It's just not quite up to the standard we've come to expect. Elio (PG, 98 minutes) 3 stars The latest Pixar animated release isn't among the studio's very best, but it's still a quality offering suitable for viewers of all ages. It begins briskly. Elio Solis (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) was adopted by his aunt, Olga (Zoe Saldaa), a major in the US Air Force, after his parents died. Their relationship is somewhat strained. Work keeps her busy but she's trying, and the 11-year-old boy is a loner still mourning his loss and finding it hard to connect with her or anyone else. He even made up a language he shared with his parents and now can only use it to talk to himself. Elio is a space buff with quite an imagination and this sustains him in his solitude. He is inspired by the Voyager spacecraft which was launched in 1977 and contained information about Earth as an interstellar message of hope (there is always the possibility this might backfire, like the increasing development of artificial intelligence, but there are plenty of movies about those dangers). The boy is fascinated by the possibility of alien life and wishes that extra-terrestrials would come and take him away from his lonely life on Earth. His obsession nearly costs his aunt her job and she takes him to a camp to get him out of her hair for a while. But he gets his wish: aliens come and beam him up, and at just the right moment. The aliens, who despite all their knowledge apparently haven't done much research about Earth, mistake him for the planet's leader. He's happy to claim the title and go to the Communiverse, an organisation with representatives from galaxies across the universe who come together to share knowledge in a peaceful way. He is being considered for the position of ambassador from Earth. The aliens are a varied and cordial bunch - this isn't dystopian sci-fi - except for the battle-mad Grigon (Pixar regular Brad Garrett), who aggressively demands admission to the club. Unsurprisingly, the Communiverse members are reluctant, and this only makes him angrier. To prove his bona fides, Elio undertakes to negotiate peaceful terms with Grigon. But he might be taking on too great a challenge. Grigon has a son whose name looks like a typo but isn't - Glordon (Remy Edgerly). The youngster is expected to follow in his father's fighting footsteps, but really doesn't want to, and unsurprisingly, he and Elio soon bond. There are some familiar tropes here of course but some inventiveness as well. The alien and space designs are good to look at, although some of the critters aren't very well differentiated (most don't have faces, which help to convey character). And the voice actors, not as starry as in some Pixar movies, are good. There are some funny lines ("My first probe!" Elio says gleefully at one point - no, not that kind of probe; this is a family film) and enjoyable situations but despite, or perhaps because of, there being several credited writers and three directors on the project, there are some flaws in the script and approach. The supporting characters on Earth aren't as well established or distinctive as they might have been, giving their reappearance at a crucial point less impact than it should have had. Even Elio and Olga could have been given a bit more time before the kid flies off so the audience gets to know them and their relationship better before the new setting and story direction. And the film feels a bit too dry-eyed, unusually for Pixar: while restraint is better than descending into bathos, some moments that should have been touching don't evoke much of an emotional response. The thought comes to mind that maybe there's not much at home for Elio to miss. Disappointingly, there's no short film preceding Elio, though there is a scene during the end credits for those who wait. Elio is an enjoyable Pixar film and, thankfully, not another sequel or reboot. It's just not quite up to the standard we've come to expect. Elio (PG, 98 minutes) 3 stars The latest Pixar animated release isn't among the studio's very best, but it's still a quality offering suitable for viewers of all ages. It begins briskly. Elio Solis (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) was adopted by his aunt, Olga (Zoe Saldaa), a major in the US Air Force, after his parents died. Their relationship is somewhat strained. Work keeps her busy but she's trying, and the 11-year-old boy is a loner still mourning his loss and finding it hard to connect with her or anyone else. He even made up a language he shared with his parents and now can only use it to talk to himself. Elio is a space buff with quite an imagination and this sustains him in his solitude. He is inspired by the Voyager spacecraft which was launched in 1977 and contained information about Earth as an interstellar message of hope (there is always the possibility this might backfire, like the increasing development of artificial intelligence, but there are plenty of movies about those dangers). The boy is fascinated by the possibility of alien life and wishes that extra-terrestrials would come and take him away from his lonely life on Earth. His obsession nearly costs his aunt her job and she takes him to a camp to get him out of her hair for a while. But he gets his wish: aliens come and beam him up, and at just the right moment. The aliens, who despite all their knowledge apparently haven't done much research about Earth, mistake him for the planet's leader. He's happy to claim the title and go to the Communiverse, an organisation with representatives from galaxies across the universe who come together to share knowledge in a peaceful way. He is being considered for the position of ambassador from Earth. The aliens are a varied and cordial bunch - this isn't dystopian sci-fi - except for the battle-mad Grigon (Pixar regular Brad Garrett), who aggressively demands admission to the club. Unsurprisingly, the Communiverse members are reluctant, and this only makes him angrier. To prove his bona fides, Elio undertakes to negotiate peaceful terms with Grigon. But he might be taking on too great a challenge. Grigon has a son whose name looks like a typo but isn't - Glordon (Remy Edgerly). The youngster is expected to follow in his father's fighting footsteps, but really doesn't want to, and unsurprisingly, he and Elio soon bond. There are some familiar tropes here of course but some inventiveness as well. The alien and space designs are good to look at, although some of the critters aren't very well differentiated (most don't have faces, which help to convey character). And the voice actors, not as starry as in some Pixar movies, are good. There are some funny lines ("My first probe!" Elio says gleefully at one point - no, not that kind of probe; this is a family film) and enjoyable situations but despite, or perhaps because of, there being several credited writers and three directors on the project, there are some flaws in the script and approach. The supporting characters on Earth aren't as well established or distinctive as they might have been, giving their reappearance at a crucial point less impact than it should have had. Even Elio and Olga could have been given a bit more time before the kid flies off so the audience gets to know them and their relationship better before the new setting and story direction. And the film feels a bit too dry-eyed, unusually for Pixar: while restraint is better than descending into bathos, some moments that should have been touching don't evoke much of an emotional response. The thought comes to mind that maybe there's not much at home for Elio to miss. Disappointingly, there's no short film preceding Elio, though there is a scene during the end credits for those who wait. Elio is an enjoyable Pixar film and, thankfully, not another sequel or reboot. It's just not quite up to the standard we've come to expect.
3 days ago
- Entertainment
Elio is Pixar's best, most beautifully brilliant movie in a decade. Too bad it will probably bomb
As a film, Elio is gorgeous. In short, it's a somehow equal parts miraculous and original wonder — so good it feels a bit out of place among a summer of adaptations, remakes, sequels and remakes of adaptations of sequels. Perhaps not that last one. But it is hard to ignore the benefits of Elio : Pixar's animation style (which seemed stuck in a perpetual state of diminishing Toy Story returns) has never looked more fluidly beautiful — especially when used to create a tapestry of glittering nebulae and spaceships. Its characters come to life with originality and heart — none more so than its heart-breakingly damaged namesake, 11-year-old Elio Solis, a space-obsessed child trying his very best to provoke an alien abduction rather than running from one. Brushing past some of its almost too kidd-ish qualities, Elio achieves almost shocking levels of originality, beauty and terrifying tragedy that do more than earn it the title of modern classic. That said, it's probably going to bomb. There are more than a few reasons why that's the case for Pixar's latest release, and buckle up, because it all comes quickly. We're introduced to the movie's heroic, pint-sized namesake with the narrative equivalent of a sledgehammer to the skull. Elio is a silent, terrified child hiding under a restaurant table, worrying the laces of oversized shoes as he tries to spontaneously phase out of existence rather than acknowledge his aunt's futile attempts to coax him back to his chair. It's a lost cause though. We soon learn that Elio (Yonas Kibreab) has just been orphaned, and his aunt Olga (Zoe Saldaña) is the unfortunate, too-young-for-this stopgap, burdened with unwanted parenthood she doesn't have the life skills to handle — especially while juggling her job as a major in the U.S. Air Force, overseeing an array of telescopes scanning the skies for space debris. But Elio's no slouch. As he wanders off into the base, he's more than aware he's the one thing a child fears most — the primal, instinctive fear that eventually evolves into the scattershot assortment of neuroses we call a personality: being unwanted. And as he stumbles into a conveniently-placed exhibit on Voyager 1 — the 1977 probe (new window) launched with a golden record, information about life on Earth and hopeful greetings for alien species — we suddenly get the animated equivalent of Citizen Kane 's Rosebud. Lying on his back, gazing slack-jawed at a glittering star-show about humanity's search for friendly intelligence in the lonely and infinite cosmos while a single tear pools on his cheek, he understands: if no one wants him on this planet, he'll go looking for one that does want him. Elio's brilliant animation feels like a step forward for Pixar, despite maintaining the CGI style the studio has been known for since 1995's Toy Story. (Disney/Pixar) Photo: (Disney/Pixar) But it also does more. This latest offering from Pixar has finally arrived in theatres after a year-long delay and a wildly shifting strategy, possibly resulting from its fraught behind-the-scenes trajectory. The result is a disparate, possibly alienating tonal melange of a UFO movie — somehow even more disorganized than that congressional hearing on UFOs (new window) we are all somehow fine with having happened. For example: Jokes, storylines and even its sometimes stilted, always hand-holdy plot beats ring of a grade-school reading level — perhaps even more childish than Pixar's increasingly tween-focused fare. But that's at cross-purposes with Canadian co-director Domee Shi's sci-fi/horror allusions (new window) that, though geared toward a younger audience, still manage to make grown-ups shiver. How one scene depicting a disintegrating clone — almost directly lifted from Rick & Morty 's horrifying "melting clone babies" (new window) moment — will manage not to inspire a juvenile nightmare epidemic is a mystery for the ages. Delays, rewrites To be fair, these moments are infrequent; a scriptwriting vestigial limb of what was likely a whiplash-inducing envelope push for Pixar. Given that the once dominant-studio's last big non-sequel success was 2017's Coco , it makes sense that they'd be swinging for the fences while trying to recapture the cultural zeitgeist with Elio , at least with the initial version. Speaking to The Wrap (new window) , Pixar chief Pete Docter claimed Elio 's delay from last year was due largely to the SAG-AFTRA strike, but behind-the-scenes changes saw the departure of much of the creative team (new window) , ushering in replacements Shee and co-director Madeline Sharafian. That shift means the story is sometimes at odds with itself, and elsewhere obviously fractured and awkwardly reassembled. The final version of the film has been so fundamentally altered that virtually every moment from its original trailer was purged — including one of the riskiest, genre-pushing, jokes: I'm trying to get abducted, Elio says (new window) , before quickly clarifying: "By aliens!" But even after the loss of some of the more risque asides, there's a seriously mature plot under the surface, one that reflects Disney's wonderfully inventive, surprisingly unsuccessful (new window) 2007 time-travel comedy Meet the Robinsons. In that movie, there's a scene in which one character gives a singular reason for his relentless villainy. In a flashback, we see a rage-filled, pint-sized orphan with bags under his eyes, skulking through a middle school hallway. Other children smile and wave as he passes and enthusiastically ask if he'd like to hang out after class while complimenting his cool, flowery-pink unicorn binder. They all hated me, he narrates. In Elio , our hero's Meet the Robinsons -esque trauma-borne impulse to wall himself off from love or intimacy adds the last ingredient to this frankly bizarre hodgepodge: devastating tragedy. While it's maybe a little subtextual for the toddlers, anyone who's heard the phrase male loneliness epidemic will see the beginnings of mental health issues that too often morph into isolation, depression and rage. Few children's movies have grappled with this before — let alone while vesting it in such a crushingly sad character arc. The hardest thing about watching Elio becomes keeping yourself from jumping through the screen to protect him at all costs. And there's also another complicating plot conceit: a 1985 interview with astronomer Carl Sagan (new window) , initially about space exploration and his book Contact . The search for life elsewhere is remarkable in our age, because this is the first time that we can actually do something besides speculation, we hear Sagan's sage voice intone. It touches to the deepest of human concerns: Are we alone? This is quickly reinterpreted through Elio 's more Earth-bound theme, as the voiceover tellingly bookends his flailings toward and away from love and acceptance, both from the aliens and Olga. In short, it's a lot. The movie's originality is something to be marvelled at. Unfortunately, like Meet the Robinsons , it's probably too original and too divisive to find a massive audience. A polarizing study in loneliness that, unlike the intentionally tame and wildly successful Lilo & Stitch remake (new window) , is anything but conventional, Elio is a joyous, tragic, miracle of creativity. What's most sad is how unlikely it is to be rewarded for that. Jackson Weaver (new window) · CBC News
CBC
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
Elio is Pixar's best, most beautifully brilliant movie in a decade. Too bad it will probably bomb
Social Sharing As a film, Elio is gorgeous. In short, it's a somehow equal parts miraculous and original wonder — so good it feels a bit out of place among a summer of adaptations, remakes, sequels and remakes of adaptations of sequels. Perhaps not that last one. But it is hard to ignore the benefits of Elio: Pixar's animation style (which seemed stuck in a perpetual state of diminishing Toy Story returns) has never looked more fluidly beautiful — especially when used to create a tapestry of glittering nebulae and spaceships. Its characters come to life with originality and heart — none more so than its heart-breakingly damaged namesake, 11-year-old Elio Solis, a space-obsessed child trying his very best to provoke an alien abduction rather than running from one. Brushing past some of its almost too kidd-ish qualities, Elio achieves almost shocking levels of originality, beauty and terrifying tragedy that do more than earn it the title of modern classic. That said, it's probably going to bomb. There are more than a few reasons why that's the case for Pixar's latest release, and buckle up, because it all comes quickly. We're introduced to the movie's heroic, pint-sized namesake with the narrative equivalent of a sledgehammer to the skull. Elio is a silent, terrified child hiding under a restaurant table, worrying the laces of oversized shoes as he tries to spontaneously phase out of existence rather than acknowledge his aunt's futile attempts to coax him back to his chair. It's a lost cause though. We soon learn that Elio (Yonas Kibreab) has just been orphaned, and his aunt Olga (Zoe Saldaña) is the unfortunate, too-young-for-this stopgap, burdened with unwanted parenthood she doesn't have the life skills to handle — especially while juggling her job as a major in the U.S. Air Force, overseeing an array of telescopes scanning the skies for space debris. But Elio's no slouch. As he wanders off into the base, he's more than aware he's the one thing a child fears most — the primal, instinctive fear that eventually evolves into the scattershot assortment of neuroses we call a personality: being unwanted. And as he stumbles into a conveniently-placed exhibit on Voyager 1 — the 1977 probe launched with a golden record, information about life on Earth and hopeful greetings for alien species — we suddenly get the animated equivalent of Citizen Kane 's Rosebud. Lying on his back, gazing slack-jawed at a glittering star-show about humanity's search for friendly intelligence in the lonely and infinite cosmos while a single tear pools on his cheek, he understands: if no one wants him on this planet, he'll go looking for one that does want him. But it also does more. This latest offering from Pixar has finally arrived in theatres after a year-long delay and a wildly shifting strategy, possibly resulting from its fraught behind-the-scenes trajectory. The result is a disparate, possibly alienating tonal melange of a UFO movie — somehow even more disorganized than that congressional hearing on UFOs we are all somehow fine with having happened. For example: Jokes, storylines and even its sometimes stilted, always hand-holdy plot beats ring of a grade-school reading level — perhaps even more childish than Pixar's increasingly tween-focused fare. But that's at cross-purposes with Canadian co-director Domee Shi's sci-fi/horror allusions that, though geared toward a younger audience, still manage to make grown-ups shiver. How one scene depicting a disintegrating clone — almost directly lifted from Rick & Morty 's horrifying "melting clone babies" moment — will manage not to inspire a juvenile nightmare epidemic is a mystery for the ages. Delays, rewrites To be fair, these moments are infrequent; a scriptwriting vestigial limb of what was likely a whiplash-inducing envelope push for Pixar. Given that the once dominant-studio's last big non-sequel success was 2017's Coco, it makes sense that they'd be swinging for the fences while trying to recapture the cultural zeitgeist with Elio, at least with the initial version. Speaking to The Wrap, Pixar chief Pete Docter claimed Elio 's delay from last year was due largely to the SAG-AFTRA strike, but behind-the-scenes changes saw the departure of much of the creative team, ushering in replacements Shee and co-director Madeline Sharafian. That shift means the story is sometimes at odds with itself, and elsewhere obviously fractured and awkwardly reassembled. The final version of the film has been so fundamentally altered that virtually every moment from its original trailer was purged — including one of the riskiest, genre-pushing, jokes: "I'm trying to get abducted," Elio says, before quickly clarifying: "By aliens!" But even after the loss of some of the more risque asides, there's a seriously mature plot under the surface, one that reflects Disney's wonderfully inventive, surprisingly unsuccessful 2007 time-travel comedy Meet the Robinsons. In that movie, there's a scene in which one character gives a singular reason for his relentless villainy. In a flashback, we see a rage-filled, pint-sized orphan with bags under his eyes, skulking through a middle school hallway. Other children smile and wave as he passes and enthusiastically ask if he'd like to hang out after class while complimenting his "cool," flowery-pink unicorn binder. "They all hated me," he narrates. In Elio, our hero's Meet the Robinsons -esque trauma-borne impulse to wall himself off from love or intimacy adds the last ingredient to this frankly bizarre hodgepodge: devastating tragedy. While it's maybe a little subtextual for the toddlers, anyone who's heard the phrase "male loneliness epidemic" will see the beginnings of mental health issues that too often morph into isolation, depression and rage. Few children's movies have grappled with this before — let alone while vesting it in such a crushingly sad character arc. The hardest thing about watching Elio becomes keeping yourself from jumping through the screen to protect him at all costs. And there's also another complicating plot conceit: a 1985 interview with astronomer Carl Sagan, initially about space exploration and his book Contact. "The search for life elsewhere is remarkable in our age, because this is the first time that we can actually do something besides speculation," we hear Sagan's sage voice intone. "It touches to the deepest of human concerns: Are we alone?" This is quickly reinterpreted through Elio 's more Earth-bound theme, as the voiceover tellingly bookends his flailings toward and away from love and acceptance, both from the aliens and Olga. In short, it's a lot. The movie's originality is something to be marvelled at. Unfortunately, like Meet the Robinsons, it's probably too original and too divisive to find a massive audience. A polarizing study in loneliness that, unlike the , is anything but conventional, Elio
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
Zoe Saldaña talks new animated film, 'Elio'
The Oscar winner shares details about her role in the upcoming sci-fi adventure, which follows a boy named Elio Solis as he accidentally becomes Earth's intergalactic ambassador. June 4, 2025
