Film: Disney Pixar’s Elio [2025] – Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldaña

Disney Pixar’s Elio is the peak of Pixar. It also highlights the studio’s biggest problem: a simple yet sweet storyline that doesn’t feel like it’s pandering to a specific audience.

Starring Yonas Kibreab & Zoe Saldaña, Elio has a relatable theme, it’s sweet and funny, and it offers insights into how to mend dysfunctional relationships.

The heart of the story is in the family dynamics which deal with loss, identity, and a sense of belonging and it’s filled with fun creatures, a lovable lead, and some moments that really pull at the heartstrings. You’ll come out of the film pleasantly surprised – and moved – by the impeccable visual storytelling on display, and an earnest emotional center. However, I can’t stop thinking about why it flopped in theaters.

With Pixar’s focus on tweens, the recent movies, minus Inside Out 2, feel very…stale. Honestly, they all looks amazing and lovely. But IF you take a step back, it’s the same formula. An early or late teen, having a problem that magically gets solved. All while being very very safe, not having any real life dialogues or problems, and at the end, everything works out. That’s not life.

As for Elio, behind-the-scenes changes saw the departure of much of the creative team during production. That shift means the story is sometimes at odds with itself, and elsewhere obviously fractured and awkwardly reassembled. (Disney should have learned from Daredevil Drama).

The final version of the film, the one we saw, has been so fundamentally altered that virtually every moment from its original trailer was purged — including one of the riskiest, genre-pushing, jokes: “I’m trying to get abducted,” Elio says, before quickly clarifying: “By aliens!”

I don’t think Pixar is for me anymore. And it’s clear that the studio needs a shakeup if they want to compete with Dreamworks and Illumination.

Should You Watch It?

Despite all my issues with the film, Elio is still a decent movie with a worthwhile message to watch. Let’s hope that for Pixar’s next project, they dive much deeper, very much deeper.

Where Can I Watch It?

Elio is now streaming on Disney Plus.