Pixar’s Elio Review: Stunning Visuals Can’t Save a Story Lost Between Space Adventure and Family Drama

Isla ActwrightJuly 4, 2025Last Updated: July 4, 2025

‘Elio’ Review: Pixar’s Sci-Fi Spectacular Gets Lost In Space

Pixar’s latest animation, Elio, has been in production for quite some time. Although lengthy timelines are common for such labor-intensive animated films, the finished movie bears little resemblance story-wise to the promising trailer released in 2023. Despite a compelling central premise — an 11-year-old boy’s lonely quest for extraterrestrial contact — Elio never fully commits to this theme.

At the heart of the story is Elio Solis (played by Yonas Kibreab), a recently orphaned boy living with his aunt, Olga (Zoe Saldaña), a Major in the Army and orbital analyst. Elio’s obsession with space and aliens leads to trouble, culminating in a sleepaway camp where he is bullied for his beliefs. His prayers seem answered when a spacecraft abducts him and takes him to the Communiverse, a collective of gelatinous alien lifeforms.

Mistaken for Earth’s leader, Elio is put forward for membership, but the process is interrupted by a hostile warlord, Grigon (voiced by Brad Garrett), known as the Blood Emperor. Elio’s mission to negotiate peace leads him to be imprisoned, where he befriends Grigon’s soft-hearted son Glordon (Remi Edgerly). Here the film begins to lose cohesion, with extended sequences that don’t advance the plot and feel out of place.

Visually, Elio is spectacular, featuring design elements reminiscent of previous Pixar favorites — from the spaceship recalling Inside Out to characters similar to Toy Story’s Emperor Zurg. The Communiverse feels more conventional compared to Disney’s Strange World (2022). The character names and dialogue occasionally falter, creating a disconnect with the audience.

Most notably, the film’s ending is deeply unsatisfying, seeming to reject the initial themes of curiosity and belonging that defined Elio’s journey. It raises questions about whether this is the final vision Pixar intended, as the narrative compromises leave the story feeling unfinished and inconsistent.