‘Elio’ The Adventure of a Lifetime

John M. Delia Jr
7 days ago
3 min read

Most of us have always wondered if we were not alone, that there was some alien race somewhere in outer space. Our curiosity has expanded to many books, comics, television, and even motion pictures over the last sixty years. One day we might just encounter beings from another planet and if we do, will they be peaceful. In 1977 the Voyager project was launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with twin probes to explore interstellar space and to give out a signal using technology from that era. The project was the longest-lived mission and lasted 45 years, which finally ended in 2022. Still to this day, they are the only probes to travel to these far away boundaries in hopes of finding answers to our existence. The story uses the premise that Voyager was sent to find life in the galaxy, by using different languages that were recorded on to a golden record as a time capsule and played as a beacon for new life to discover, including an American kid’s voice.

After losing his parents to an accident, eleven-year-old Elio Solis (voice by Yonas Kibreab), now having to live with his Aunt Olga Solis (voice by Zoe Saldaña), who is stationed on an Air force base in Southern California. Elio feels alone and since his aunt is in the military working on exploration connectivity, he has a large interest in what’s up there. His curiosity is so great that he wants to know so bad that he will not stop until he has contact. To the point that he actually wants to be abducted by aliens and to travel the interstellar cosmos for eternity. Since the base is near the ocean, he goes to the beach during the day and sometimes at night to try and communicate with possible unknown visitors.

As time goes on Olga begins to have issues with communicating with her nephew, and it concerns her that he struggles making friends. Elio’s total focus is on life in the galaxy, and he doesn’t really pay much attention to others. When he finally begins to reach out to try and find others that are like him, he meets Bryce (Dylan Gilmer voice) and Caleb (Jake Getman voice) who are local kids that also live on the base. His first impression with them doesn’t go well and unintentionally makes enemies with them. When Olga finally realizes that there is no other choice but to send him away to the base camp, things begin to get worse for Elio, especially when he discovers that Bryce and Caleb are also there as well.

Eventually, Elio gets his wish and he encounters beyond what he expected, when he finally discovers a new realm that includes many interesting characters, such as, Questa (voice of Jameela Jamil), OOOOO (voice of Shirley Henderson), Gunther Melmac (voice of Brendan Hunt), Tegmen (voice of Matthias Schweighöfer), Helix (voice of Brandon Moon), Auva (voice of Naomi Watanabe), Turais (voice of Ana de la Reguera), Mira (voice of Anissa Borrego), Glordon (voice of Remy Edgerly), and Lord Grigon (voice of Brad Garrett). From there the story takes off and Elio must find a way to convince his new friends that he is worthy of their praise without destroying the universe. Meanwhile, his aunt needs to finally reach him to save him from his realized predicament.

Director and writers Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina do an excellent job putting together this outstanding storyline. Originally conceived from Molina’s similar childhood growing up on a military base and continuously developed over the years with the other writers including, Julia Cho, Mark Hammer, and Mike Jones, this tale becomes another masterpiece from the Pixar Animated films team. Including many captivating historical facts, with Voyager, and the alien premise, helped develop this journey successfully.

A very fun story for the kids and even a nice historical connection for the adults, makes this an enjoyable experience for everyone. There are some dark scary scenes that might frighten the littles ones, but it is still good for all ages. This fun event is worth seeing this summer and will definitely entertain the entire family.