Pixar has always been a story-first studio. They prioritize strong narratives, character development, and emotional impact over animation. As such, their films resonate on a deeply human level, no matter how fantastical the setting or plot. This approach fits perfectly with Elio, a film about an 11-year-old Latinx boy who struggles with the anxieties of loneliness and embarks on a journey of connection in an intergalactic world.
Rooted in Adrian Molina‘s cultural background and brought to life under the direction of Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian, Elio aims to blend authenticity with imagination, making it both profoundly personal and universally relatable.
We joined fellow journalists at the Pixar campus in Emeryville, CA, to watch 20 minutes of Elio footage and speak with the team behind the film. In the interview, they shared how key visual choices, like the aspect ratio changes, helped bring the story’s emotional depth to life.
Elio has gone through quite a few changes since it was first announced. Molina stepped back to focus on co-directing Coco 2 alongside Lee Unkrich. The film would have marked Molina’s solo directorial debut. However, when it was announced that Molina would step back from the film while retaining the director’s credit, Pixar’s chief creative officer, Pete Docter, revealed that Shi and Sharafian would helm the film.
Additionally, America Ferrera, who was tapped to voice Olga, Elio’s mother, had to step away due to scheduling conflicts. Olga was eventually rewritten as Elio’s aunt, and Zoe Saldaña replaced Ferrera.
In the released trailers, we see the titular boy with his head in the stars and his aunt telling him that his life isn’t there. It’s down on Earth. Seeing the lonely, sad look in his eyes as he looks for belonging, one can empathize with his longing to be understood. Meanwhile, his aunt Olga desperately tries to understand her free-spirited nephew living in a regimented army base. Then there’s Glordon, a worm-like alien, and the son of Lord Grigon, who has no interest in being like his warlord father.
Though Elio’s desperate message to the stars finally reaches someone or something, it comes with some unintended consequences. With his arrival, the ambassadors of the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide, believe that he is the leader of Earth. As Elio and Glordon’s loneliness forges a friendship, they face tough decisions that could change everything.
While we saw fragmented clips, Shi and Sharafian, as well as producer Mary Alice Drumm, provided some helpful context to give us a better idea of what was happening. Honestly, though, it is incredible to see how Molina’s childhood comes alive in fantastical ways. While this may be a story about a boy who gets abducted by aliens and is mistaken for the leader of Earth, this is a story about seeking connection in our vast and awe-inspiring universe and reveals the power of connection through the eyes of a child who learns that the thing he is looking for may have been in front of him all along.
Since space plays a critical role in Elio, it stands to reason that much of what we will see not only takes place in space but also draws its visual language from space observatories and air force bases. When we first see Elio, he is a young, traumatized child reeling from the loss of his parents. All he has is his Aunt Olga, who had to put aside her ambitions for a higher rank to take care of her nephew. She, too, desperately tries to make a connection by taking him out to eat at a restaurant. But it’s clear by his hiding under the table and her rattling off space-themed foods from the menu that it is a complicated relationship rooted in confusion and uncertainty.
But when Elio can get away, he gets lost in an exhibit about the Voyager satellite. There, he learns about how the intrepid explorer is on a mission, traveling farther than any human has ever gone to the distant reaches of the cosmos and beyond. He learns about the phonograph record attached and its purpose to be a message of peace. The exhibit’s cosmic projection immerses Elio with beautiful stars and other nebulae streaks. It profoundly impacts so much that when Olga finally finds him, Elio asks if life is really out there.
The scene then takes us to an 11-year-old Elio who has made various attempts to reach out to aliens on a beach with his sand circles, arrows pointing to him, and a request that reads: Aliens Abduct Me. There is a time-lapse sequence, with the Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime” playing in the background, of him either lying on the beach or stopping beachgoers from ruining his designs. Frustrated, his plans don’t yield any results.
Nobody seems to understand Elio. He doesn’t have friends, and deep down, he fears he’s a burden to his Aunt Olga, but he’s convinced that up in space, things must be different. Then, one day at work, Olga receives a signal from outer space, and Elio jumps at the opportunity to answer, hoping to make contact with aliens. Elio’s message is received. His dreams come true, and a UFO appears, beaming Elio into space, where he arrives at the Communiverse, unlike anything he’s ever seen.
This spaceship isn’t like any traditional spaceship. It looks ethereal and otherworldly, like a beautiful vessel made of pure light. Considering that Elio is a story rooted in emotion and wonder, the spaceship’s design reflects more than just alien technology — it mirrors the dreamlike hope Elio clings to. So, it makes sense that the ship is more peaceful than mechanical. Soft edges aside from its diamond-shaped head up top to the way it opens its hatch, this very moment is everything Elio hoped and dreamed it would be.
As aforementioned, this isn’t a ship but more of a relay that beams an excited Elio up and transports him to the Communiverse. It’s quite a visual journey to see him leave Earth and enter an empty space that draws inspiration from the inside of the ships seen in Arrival, just a tad bit brighter with color and not as muted.
But before he can enter the Communiverse, he meets Ooooo, a liquid sentient computer, with two black eyes and a tiny horizontal line for a mouth, which forms waves to communicate. Of course, since Ooooo doesn’t speak English, she provides a communication device to help translate for Elio when he’s in the Communiverse. The basic construction of the Communiverse headquarters consists of four parabolic rotating disks, each with its own distinctive ecosystem. There’s a volcanic hot disc, an icy cold disc, an aquatic disc, and a verdant blush disc.
Once Elio gets accustomed to gravity and the surrounding environments, he meets Questa, an alien inspired by ribbon eels, manta rays, and leafy sea dragons. There’s also Helix, and Tegmen. The Communiverse searches far and wide for new members and believes Elio is an ideal candidate to join their ranks. He even gets to meet the Universal User’s Manual, a faceless supercomputer that contains the secrets of the universe. But Elio isn’t concerned with the meaning of life or what lies beyond a black hole, as he is the one who would win a fight between a gorilla with a baseball bat or ten chimps.
Elio explains that he thought his message would never reach anyone. However, once the Communiverse received it, they immediately sent an invitation to Earth. Hearing the message they received, it’s clear that they are being deceived. While everyone, including Elio, is excited about the expanded membership, Lord Grigon isn’t enthusiastic about his constant rejection. Through holographic communication, a large and imposing Grigon appeals to the Communiverse for membership because he believes that his weaponry and their technology would make the group a deadly force.
Based on the tone of Grigon’s appeal, Communiverse isn’t interested in his military might. “We believe in tolerance and open-mindedness,” a whimpering Helix explains to Grigon. The warlord doesn’t appreciate the rejection and shows it by shooting a laser at Helix. The ambassador explains that their decision isn’t about him but more about them.
Tired of being rejected for admission to the Communiverse, Grigon promises to conquer it unless he’s accepted into their group.
A threatened Communiverse believes that it would be safer for Elio to be on Earth. But Elio isn’t ready to return home yet. He’s finally found a place on Earth he can call home. So he devises a way to stay by making a bold gamble. He declares himself the leader of Earth and a brilliant negotiator who can bring about peace. While his first attempt fails, he meets Glordon, Grigor’s son, who isn’t interested in being like his father. He’s not as menacing or evil either, and would rather spend time being a kid.
So Elio takes advantage of this and turns Glordon into a bargaining chip. Elio promises to return Glordon unharmed if Grigon pledges not to attack. To make his point, Elio tickles Glordon, whose laughter sounds like screams of pain to Grigon. As such, the warlord concedes and will collect his son, but swears he will attack if Elio hurts one hair on his body.
Elio is rewarded for his efforts and stays with his new best friend as everyone prepares for Grigon’s arrival. The two connect over a shared sense of loneliness, with Elio losing his mother and father. In contrast, Gordon lost his mother, and his father’s obsession with getting Communiverse membership makes him emotionally distant. Both feel like they are a burden to their parents. Such a heartfelt moment leads Elio to ask himself, what if Earth wasn’t the problem? What if it was himself who was the problem?
Soon, the truth is revealed, and Elio is seen as a mere child who has misled the entire Communiverse, not the ambassador he claims to be. As such, he is returned to Earth. During the whole ordeal, we learn that Ooooo has created a clone of Elio so that it wouldn’t arouse any suspicion that he is missing. But this clone is too perfect as he is interested in helping with chores and Olga’s general well-being. But Olga’s parental instincts are improving, and she discovers she’s had a clone of her nephew for quite some time.
In the last clip, a cast-out Elio is watching his clone and Olga bond. It’s nighttime with no real light source except the moonlight cast on a beach and a broken flashlight. A tearful Elio now feels more alone than he ever has. Watching his clone connect with his Aunt Olga, it becomes apparent that the thing he has been searching for has been in front of him all along. She tries to assemble a communication device that the Elio clone has been working on but uses Spanish expressions like Mirecole to signal her frustration. Walking over to his aunt, Elio asks Olga if she is okay. She responds that she’s not and feels crazy trying to make contact with something she doesn’t know exists. It’s at this moment that she reveals that she feels alone.
Elio hopes to resonate with those facing loneliness, just as Inside Out 2 did for those coping with anxiety. Its unique approach to storytelling and visuals uses Elio’s internal isolation to shape a cosmic journey that mirrors his emotional struggles. While it may not be as apparent as in films like Coco or Turning Red, Elio still has cultural specificities while having a story that resonates with all. That can be felt in its visual language and through the character’s enunciations and use of expressions like Miercole.
Elio opens in theaters on June 20, 2025.