• Release year: 2025
• Director: Adrian Molina, Madeline Sharafian, and Domee Shi.
• Producer: Mary Alice Drumm.
• Screenplay by: Julia Cho, Mark Hammer, Mike Jones, Jesse Andrews and Hannah Friedman.
• Cinematography by: Jordan Rempel and Derek Williams.
• Music by: Rob Simonsen.

Shotgun Commentary: a Disney film that is not a reboot, remake, prequel, nor sequel. You’re welcome.

Review

Elio is the first Disney production of the year to bring a brand-new story for children to enjoy. In a year when the three biggest products for kids have been the live-action version of three animation classics (Snow White, Lilo & Stitch, and How to Train Your Dragon), any fresh story feels like rain on a desert. Elio does not come without its flaws, but it is still preferable to consuming yet another version of the same content.

Dysfunction at its best

The film follows Elio (Yonas Kibreab), an orphan who feels like he doesn’t belong on Earth. Considering this is a Disney film, it hardly comes as a surprise that the kid has no parents. After all, everybody knows that if you do, there is no possible adventure. Take Sleeping Beauty (1959) as an example, Aurora had parents and slept through the whole action.

Luckily for him, despite his parentless situation, he’s not completely alone in the world. He has his aunt, Olga Solís (Zoe Saldaña), taking care of him. Not that it matters, since he has decided to convince himself that she’s simply not enough. This particular situation makes him slightly hard to root for at the very beginning, at least from the point of view of the adult.

Olga is constantly trying to make him happy and sacrificing her life and dreams for Elio, while the child only whines about how misunderstood and unloved he is. Reaching his peak the moment he shouts at his aunt “You are not my family”, which is both objectively wrong and subjectively evil.

Still, Olga is not completely faultless either, she does her best, but Elio spends night and day on the beach despite being a little kid. Granted, he lives in a military base. But still, shouldn’t he at least be in bed at night? Olga definitely never watched Nani struggle in Lilo & Stitch (2002/2025). Overall, their relationship is chaotic and sometimes nonsensical, but remains realistic enough to keep your attention. In addition to making the unavoidable sweet Disney ending all the more emotional.

Great support

In addition to these two chaotic Solís, the film has a fantastic cast voicing hilarious characters. Gunther Melmac (Brendan Hunt) being the highlight amongst them. He plays an alien fan and computer expert that works at Olga’s base. Not only is he the catalyst of Elio’s adventure, but also the most delightful character, endearing and deranged in equal amounts.

Other great characters include the liquid computer Ooooo (Shirley Henderson), the self-explanatory Universal Users Manual (Bob Peterson), and Lord Gringon (Brad Garrett). This last character is the perfect representation of toxic masculinity and the importance of letting go of it. Forget about Ken (Barbie, 2023), in 2025 horses are out and in are laser guns that kill…sentient flowers? Anyone who’s seen The Pacifier (2005), knows that it is not the first time Garrett plays a toxic villain redeemed by freeing himself of archaic patriarchal ideals. And even though you don’t get to see him this time around, he plays the role just as flawlessly.

The one-man wolf pack

Last but not least, there is one particular sequence worth mentioning, a crazy party sequence that looks both fun and mildly out of place. Throughout the whole film, the aliens in the Communiverse, are drinking some kind of cocktail that they offer Elio. It looks very much like a purple Sex on the beach or a boba tea in a cocktail glass, which is fine.

However, when Elio and his BFF Glordon (Remy Edgerly) decide to have fun, they do all these super fun looking activities while drinking way too much of it. This prompts not one but two different instances where one of them is throwing up like crazy. Bottom line is, it looks like an intergalactic The Hangover (2009).

Surely, this will go over the heads of children as a joke, and they will probably not even connect it to alcohol consumption. But is it really the best example of fun you should be illustrating in a kiddie film? Drinking until you throw up and then drinking more? Even if they don’t get it consciously, is that not a pretty harmful seed to plant? Then again, it might just be the paranoid fun police in this critic talking.

All in all, Elio is a feature that, despite the last commentary, is really worth watching. If nothing else, because it is the freshest thing to come out of Disney in a long while. It’s fun, it has huge summer vibes, and both children and their parents will be able to enjoy it. Don’t think too much about the obvious plot holes and you will be fine.

Thanks to Disney for big-screen access! Elio will be released the 20 of June.

Advice to take from this movie:

• If the person in charge of potentially sending a reply message to aliens decides to pass, they are not the right people for the job.
• Few things are as hilarious as a wrongly placed “bye, love you”.
• It is fine to make your character realise things and evolve, but there is usually a reason for that. A night out having space cocktails can be it… but, really?

What’s your take? Have you watched Elio? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀