REEL | Pixar Abducts 'Elio' – Alone in the Universe

"I've never been a bargaining chip before!"

Walt Disney Pictures / Pixar Animation Studios

Pixar and Filipino-American child actor Yonas Kibreab, who voices the eponymous eleven-year-old orphan boy mistaken by aliens as Earth's leader and abducted to the intergalactic version of the United Nations called the "Communiverse," come together for a heartwarming space adventure about family and friendship. Elio, directed by animators Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi (original director Adrian Molina also retains a co-directing credit) packs a surprisingly large amount of goofy alien fun into ninety-eight minutes.

Despite the extraterrestrial sci-fi ride and alien exposition about the galaxy's utopian diplomatic body threatened by a scary warlord blood emperor, things move fast, and we are quickly introduced to the chaos of making first contact. Thanks to amusing voice performances by Zoe Saldaña, Brad Garrett, Jameela Jamil, and Shirley Henderson, a plethora of mostly silly alien characters are introduced in different forms and bodies.

Scripted by screenwriters Julia Cho, Mark Hammer, and Mike Jones, Elio maintains a basic structure revolving around a lonely orphaned boy struggling to connect with his frustrated but loving aunt (Saldaña) desperate to be abducted by alien life and taken away from his tragic past at home on Earth until he realizes the power of family. It's impressive how much is streamlined after he leaves the planet, makes valuable relationships in space, and plots a straightforward bargaining plan to save the universe from terror.

Elio speeds through a family-oriented, alien abduction sci-fi adventure about friendship. However, this quick pace keeps the fun light and breezy with plenty of jokes about human life on Earth and a child being mistaken for a world leader, and arguably doing the job better than most of the actual authority figures we elect. Pixar has made another mostly delightful children's animated film about the meaning of family as seen from other life forms.


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