Elio Is Pixar’s Intergalactic Hug for Anyone Who’s Ever Felt Out of Place

For centuries, humankind has looked to the stars, asking the eternal question: Are we truly alone in the universe? But in Elio, Pixar flips the telescope around. The universe answers — and it asks back: Are we ever truly alone?

Directed by a powerhouse trio of Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina, Elio is Pixar at its absolute best: deeply imaginative, visually stunning, and emotionally fearless. It’s a film that blasts off into cosmic whimsy but crash-lands directly into the human heart — and mine is still recovering.

At the center of this celestial story is Elio Solis, voiced with remarkable warmth and sincerity by Yonas Kibreab. Elio is a shy, creative boy obsessed with aliens, star systems, and the belief that he might belong out there more than down here. So when he’s accidentally abducted by a fleet of aliens and declared Earth’s “official representative” to the Communiverse — a chaotic, multi-species galactic council — he’s faced with more than just first contact. He’s thrust into a galactic identity crisis wrapped in neon and nebulae.

Zoe Saldaña gives a grounded, emotional performance as Olga, a hard-working government scientist whose love for Elio is fierce and unshakable. Their bond is the soul of this film, and it’s a credit to Sharafian, Shi, and Molina that amidst the wild sci-fi escapades, the most powerful scenes are the quiet ones — a mother trying to reach her son, and a boy learning to believe in himself.

And then — like Pixar always does — they drop the emotional bombshell. Out of nowhere. One minute you’re laughing at a jellyfish doing interpretive dance, and the next you’re clutching your chest, wondering how animated pixels just unearthed every childhood insecurity you buried in the fifth grade. I’m a grown man, and I have not cried this much since Up.

But Elio earns every tear. It’s not just about aliens and diplomacy; it’s about feeling like you don’t fit in your school, in your skin, in your species — and discovering that maybe, just maybe, the universe is a little less lonely than you feared.

Pixar’s team tackles the twin themes of isolation and connection with both cosmic scale and intimate clarity. Are we truly alone in the universe? Maybe not. Not when stories like this exist to remind us that even the weirdest, wildest, most misplaced among us have a place, but all of it is in service to a bigger idea: what does it mean to belong?

Final Verdict:
🌟🌟🌟🌟½ (4.5/5 stars)
Elio is a heartfelt, hilarious, and profoundly human journey through the stars. Give us five minutes next time, Pixar, before you emotionally wreck us. Then again, don’t — because this is why we keep coming back.

Now playing in theaters. Bring tissues. And your inner child.