Elio is looking. Looking for his place in the world. Looking for a friend. Looking for relief from some pretty heavy things that have happened in his life (really heavy). In our Elio review, we’ll take a look at the story, the characters, the music, and more from this intergalactic space adventure.
As the film opens, you’re greeted with the wonderful score from composer Rob Simonsen. If you know me, I take a lot of notes when screening a Pixar movie. So, with pen in hand, my first note was “cool chill music.” It stood out as something that set the feel and vibe for the movie in a great way – an adventure with some intrigue awaits.
My excitement was further heightened as a familiar voice and narration played. Carl Sagan’s deep and ear-catching voice called out as a historical recording of him speaking about the Voyager Golden Record (affixed to the NASA Voyager 1 spacecraft and launched in 1977).
As a side note, during our recent interview with Directors Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian, and Producer Mary Alice Drumm, I asked about how they managed to secure the right to use Carl’s recording. Our full video interview will be coming soon, revealing those details – stay tuned!
As the film moves on, you’ll find that it walks a very fine line between funny and heavy, and another line between thriller and lighthearted. For viewers with younger kids, don’t worry if a scene feels like it might become a bit scary at times – each moment of intensity is relieved rather quickly and without cause for concern. We appreciated that it walked that line so well without going too far in either direction.
ELIO STORY
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the Voyager spacecraft kind of tells Elio’s story wonderfully. Voyager is a craft floating in space, constantly beaming out a message, just looking for something – Elio is the same way. He’s always searching for his place to fit into the universe, is obsessed with space and aliens, and is trying to find a way to transmit his message.
After Elio stumbles upon a way to transmit his request to leave Earth to find a place he can fit in, his wish actually comes true. Upon arriving in a space, he is greeted by Glordon, and their relationship is the shining star of Elio.
This is Elio Solís of the planet Earth. I come in peace and I’m super
Elio’s message to outerspace
excited to join you. I’m creative, hardworking… shredded. So, please come and get me. I’ll be waiting! OK, bye, love you!
While the film has them on an adventure to stop the warlord ruler, Lord Grigon, from overtaking the Communiverse, there is also a nice balance to let Elio, his Aunt Olga, Glordon and even Lord Grigon to have their individual character arcs.
I enjoyed how the film resolved, leaving a sense of accomplishment and growth, especially for those characters I mentioned above. The only quirk I had with the film is that I was eager to explore the Communiverse and space further. The film was large and small, all at the same time. I understand why Pixar focused the movie the way they did, but something as large and colorful as space (as they present it) makes me hungry to explore further.
ELIO CHARACTERS
Elio’s character design is wonderful, and there are so many details that can be seen. I know Elio isn’t the first character where we can see the very fine hairs (peach fuzz) on their face, but I feel like the details popped off the screen more than ever.
The other human characters felt like they hopped out of Lightyear (since many are on an Air Force base), Inside Out, or many other familiar Pixar films. Of course, the humans aren’t the main characters in Elio – this is about aliens – well, at least alien to us.
Glordon is the standout here – his design may be intense with his rows of teeth, or the way the spikes rattle on his back when he opens his mouth. But Glodron is anything but intense and is perfectly adorable, especially Remy Edgerly‘s vocal performance. I can’t believe Pixar made me fall for a worm-like, tardigrade-style character. I mean, they created Heimlich, and that’s a tough worm-like caterpillar character to compete with.
We also have a video interview with Elio’s vocal actor, Yonas Kibreab – link coming soon.
Of the ambassadors in the Communiverse (an interplanetary organization with ambassadors representing their planets), our favorites were Ambassador Helix and Ambassador Tegman. Don’t let Ambassador Tegman’s voice fool you, though. At times, he sounds like Pixar’s Peter Sohn, but he is actually voiced by Matthias Schweighöver.
Both of those characters’ vocal performances and their animation are fantastic. We love how rock-like Tegmen is and how quirky Helix is. They’re both comedic forces in the movie that had us cracking up.
ELIO SOUNDTRACK
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, Rob Simonsen’s score complements the emotion and visuals of Elio perfectly. There are elements of brassiness that remind us of other sci-fi classics (e.g., Star Wars), there are quiet piano melodies that enhance the emotions between Elio and Glordon, and there are upbeat electronic compositions that soar while Elio and Glordon explore the riches of the Communiverse.
We can’t wait to listen to the complete soundtrack when it releases on June 20.
HOW TO WATCH ELIO
Elio releases in theaters on June 20, 2025, and tickets are now available. But, if you want to see the film even earlier, you can catch an Elio “Early Access Screening” on June 18, 2025 – two days before its official release!
Check out your local theater or Fandango to find a participating theater near you!
