Last night my family and I watched Elio (2025), the latest feature length movie from Pixar Animation. I’m not really sure how to fairly rate this movie. Do we compare it to other Pixar movies of the past? Do we compare it to what it closely resembles? Do we rate it based strictly off of how good or poor the movie is as a standalone feature?
Elio is the story about an orphaned 11-year old who is now living with his Aunt at an air force base. She still has to work, and Elio feels extremely isolated and alone. Elio tries to make contact with extra-terretrial life, and eventually does! He has a great time in outer space, until conflict ensures, and he has to be the one to resolve everything. Overall, the story is really great, and engaging! My 2-year-old son was in the room as we watched this, and he was locked in for most of the movie! The story is solid.
The animation is great, but the character design for the human characters really throws everything off. They have these big bean mouths when they smile that throw their proportions all over the place. The character designs with the humans suffer with the same flaws that movies like Turning Red, and Luca have, rounded characters with big bean smiles making me think this was heavily inspired by Cartoon Network shows from the 2010s like Adventure Time and Steven Universe. Minus that overseeable detail, the movie is really great, and I did enjoy it a lot.
If we were to compare Elio to other Pixar movies, it’s definitely one of the better Pixar movies to release in the last 5 years, but overall, it tries to hard to be one of the great movies they made in the 90s and 2000s, and falls just short of greatness comparatively. I wouldn’t rank this in a Top 10 Pixar movies of all time, but it’s a fun watch! Movies like Toy Story, Inside Out, and Ratatoullie still stand above Elio. If we were to compare Elio to Pixar movies of the last five years, it’s definitely better than Turning Red, Luca, and Lightyear. It’s on a similar playing field as Elemental, and Onward, but it’s not as great as Soul. In MY opinion, I think Soul outweighs all the other Pixar movies released in the last half-decade.
Strictly looking at it as a stand-alone movie, Elio holds it’s own. The characters are fun, likable, and engaging with the story. Nothing feels out of place. All the story elements that make a good story are there, and it’s accomplished in a wonderful, timely way. It never overstays its welcome, and it’s something the entire family can enjoy. Elio is a great watch, and I’d definitely recommend it if you’re interested in anything Pixar, sci-fi, or need something new to show the kids.
I give this movie 3 ½ stars. Not because it’s not great, but it falls just short of greatness. It’s a very enjoyable watch – You can see what I’m currently watching by following me on Letterboxd @ roberthawk
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