Underplayed Gems

Elio (2025)

Elio poster
Directed by
Madeline Sharafian, Adrian Molina, Domee Shi
Genre
fantasy film, adventure film, science fiction film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 39m
Rated
PG
Rating
6.9 of 10 from 1,042 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More films like thisWatch the trailer

or watch the trailer on YouTube

How it feels

An eleven year old boy named Elio is accidentally beamed up by aliens and mistaken for Earth's ambassador. He must navigate a crisis among alien societies while befriending an alien child named Glordon.

whimsicaladventurousheartfeltchaoticcolorfulupliftingfast-pacedquirkychildlike

What happens

Elio is a 2025 American animated science fiction adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina, and written by Julia Cho, Mark Hammer, and Mike Jones, from a story developed by Molina, Sharafian, Shi, and Cho, the film stars the voices of Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldaña, Remy Edgerly, Brandon Moon, Brad Garrett, and Jameela Jamil. It follows eleven-year-old Elio (Kibreab) who is mistaken for the intergalactic ambassador of Earth after being beamed up to the Communiverse by aliens for making contact, and must navigate a crisis that involves the warlord Grigon (Garrett), who is the father of the alien child Glordon (Edgerly) who Elio befriends. Elio was conceived by Molina as a story about childhood and social isolation and was inspired by growing up on a military base and his eventual enrollment at the California Institute of the Arts. The film was officially announced in September 2022, with Molina attached to direct. Molina later left the project due to creative differences and moved to work on Coco 2 (2029). In August 2024, it was announced that Shi and Sharafian would replace him as lead directors. The production team devised a process, titled the "College Project", to create the look of the space setting, the Communiverse. The film was produced with a virtual anamorphic lens and Pixar's new Luna lighting toolset was used to quickly define lighting and the overall aesthetic. Its musical score was composed by Rob Simonsen. Elio premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, on June 10, 2025, and was released in the United States on June 20. The film received generally positive reviews from critics but underperformed at the box office, grossing $154 million worldwide against an estimated budget of $150–200+ million. The film has been nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards, Golden Globe Awards, BAFTA Awards, and the Academy Awards, as well as a leading 10 nominations at the 53rd Annie Awards including Best Feature. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.