Elio (2025)
"The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space." - Carl Sagan
I recently listened to an episode of the podcast "The Rest is History". The particular episode featured Tom Hanks talking about the moon landing and the feeling of growing up in that space race time period. Not only was it a fascinating listen, it also provides a fantastic backdrop to Elio.
Feeling alone, whether in the vastness of the universe of just in your home town, is such a common issue. It's hard to realize the full scope of the universe and the thought of that being empty, of humanity being a single spark in a vast empty darkness, is frightening. As we get older we don't get to look up at the stars as often, we get busy and distracted.
If I'm being very picky - this art style in the last few Pixar movies is not my favourite. I have seen them described as having bean-mouths. In the past, whether it was the fur simulations of Monsters Inc. or the cloth simulations in the Incredibles I would always find myself wowed by the advancement of Pixar's technology. In Elio, the only moments that gave me pause was the Communiverse ship. The ship has some fantastic artistic designs and it definitely added a bit of wow to the visuals.
Elio is a reminder that, whether on this planet or the next, we're not alone. It's a wonderful little movie with a lot of heart and I'm glad we gave it a chance.
