Elio (2025)

Directors: Adrian Molina, Domee Shi, Madeline Sharafian

Elio, a space fanatic with an active imagination, finds himself on a cosmic misadventure where he must form new bonds with alien lifeforms, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions and somehow discover who he is truly meant to be.

I have mixed feelings about ‘Elio’. With Elio’s parents having died leaving him orphaned and in the care of his Aunt, there are many heartfelt moments. Then there are moments that are so cartoonish, I thought I accidentally stumbled upon a kids’ cartoon. By the time the credits rolled, I thought this actually wasn’t bad and I enjoyed it.

Elio is a young boy who is looked after by his Aunt Olga, who gave up her dreams of becoming an astronaut to raise him, so we definitely also root for her for the sacrifices she is making. There were several deeply emotional moments between Elio and Olga.

When Elio becomes fascinated with the possibility of extra-terrestrial life, he wishes to be abducted by aliens in order to escape from his life. He doesn’t have any friends, he has a low self-esteem and is a bit of a nerd. The animation is stunning and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie…until the moment he was abducted. The alien characters are designed specifically for a very young audience – similar to cartoons. When Elio is mistaken for Earth’s leader – and he assumes the identity – it wasn’t believable for a kid to go up against a dreaded warlord, Grigon.

While Elio is to fight the battle, a clone of himself is sent back to Earth. This clone and Olga becoming suspicious of him redeemed the movie when I almost stopped watching. The friendship between Elio and Glordon, Grigon’s son, was also of a growing interest, and eventually rather touching.

‘Elio’ is definitely more for a young audience, while a mature audience might find themselves enjoying it in the end.

Would I watch it again? I doubt it.