For centuries, people have called out to the universe looking for answers. A boy is beamed up to an interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide. Mistakenly identified as Earth’s leader, he forms unexpected bonds with alien lifeforms while discovering who he’s truly meant to be. An animated film by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina, featuring the voices of Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldaña, Remy Edgerly, Brandon Moon, Brad Garrett, Jameela Jamil, Dylan Gilmer, Jake Getman, Matthias Schweighöfer, Ana de la Reguera, Atsuko Okatsuka, Shirley Henderson, Naomi Watanabe, Brendan Hunt, Anissa Borrego, Shelby Young, Bob Peterson, Kate Mulgrew, and Tamara Tunie.
ELiO
Madeline Sharafian • Domee Shi • Adrian Molina
(2025)
After a tragic accident kills Elio’s parents, his aunt Major Olga Solís (Zoe Saldaña) takes him in as his guardian. Olga struggles to connect with Elio (Yonas Kibreab), who has withdrawn into himself and won’t open up to anyone. Elio overhears Olga turning down an opportunity with the astronaut program, saying the timing isn’t right.
At the Montez Air & Space Museum, Elio wanders off on his own and discovers a closed exhibit featuring the Voyager 1 spacecraft, where he finds the Voyager Golden Record.
The Voyager Golden Record is a 12-inch gold-plated copper disc attached to the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft launched in 1977. It serves as a time capsule meant to communicate the story of Earth and humanity to any extraterrestrial beings who might find it. The record contains 116 images and a variety of sounds, including natural noises like wind and animal calls, musical selections from different cultures and eras, spoken greetings in 55 languages, and human sounds such as footsteps and laughter. The cover of the record is etched with instructions on how to play it, locate Earth in the cosmos, and a map using pulsars. This record was designed to last billions of years, symbolizing a hopeful message from humanity describing our world’s diversity, culture, and aspirations. Led by Carl Sagan and his team, it is both an invitation to other intelligent beings and an expression of who we are as a species. The Voyager spacecraft carrying this record are currently traveling through interstellar space, making the Golden Record a lasting message from Earth to the cosmos.
Curious, Elio presses the button and the record starts playing spoken greetings in several languages. Suddenly, hundreds of LED lights on the floor begin to illuminate, flickering like tiny stars, as a pre-recorded voice narrates the mission of Voyager 1—carrying a message that has traveled farther than any human has gone, to the distant reaches of the cosmos and beyond. Elio watches in awe as a visual of Voyager 1 appears against a galaxy-lit background. He becomes captivated by the spacecraft’s mission and the possibility that maybe one day a distant world will receive its message, proving we aren’t alone in the universe.
Voyager 1 was created and launched by NASA on September 5, 1977. It was built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The mission of Voyager 1 was to study the outer planets Jupiter and Saturn through flybys, taking detailed images and measurements, and then to continue exploring the outer heliosphere and interstellar space beyond the Sun’s influence. Voyager 1 was the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space on 25 August 2012. The total cost of the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 missions, including launch, operations through the Neptune encounter, and nuclear power sources, was approximately $865 million, with an additional $30 million budgeted for the extended Voyager Interstellar Mission.
From that moment on, Elio becomes obsessed with extraterrestrial life. He spends most of his time at nearby beaches, drawing symbols in the sand and hoping aliens will come and take him away. He even skips school to spend more time there. But no aliens ever come.
One night, Elio is approached by Bryce (Dylan Gilmer), who responds to Elio’s flyer about a Ham Radio Club, not knowing there’s no actual club. Elio only wants to pair his transceiver with Bryce’s, believing that connecting them will double the radio’s range to reach aliens. Elio quickly dismisses Bryce by lying that the other members developed amnesia and forgot to show up, telling Bryce to come back for the next meeting in three months.
Ham Radio, also known as amateur radio, is a non-commercial form of radio communication where individuals, called “hams,” use designated radio frequencies to exchange messages, experiment with wireless technology, and engage in a variety of activities such as self-training, contests, and emergency communications. It is a popular technical hobby that allows operators to communicate locally, nationally, or even globally, without relying on the Internet or cell phones. Operators must obtain a license to use these frequencies, which requires passing an exam demonstrating knowledge of radio theory, electronics, and regulations. Ham radio supports diverse modes of communication including voice, Morse code, digital data, and images.
Things get complicated when Bryce’s friend Caleb (Jake Getman) shows up and becomes drawn to the mysterious sounds coming from the paired transceivers. Believing it’s contact from aliens, Elio tries to push Caleb away from the equipment. During their struggle, the transceiver slips from their hands and strikes Elio’s left eye before crashing on a nearby rock and breaking. Enraged, Elio lunges at Caleb. During the fight, two patrolling officers intervene and take them all to Montez Air Force base where Olga works.
Olga feels overwhelmed and frustrated when she learns that Elio has not only been skipping school but also got into a fight on the beach. But Olga needs to attend one last meeting of the day, so she leaves Elio in her office, asking him to stay put for ten minutes before she leaves and enters another room across the hall. Elio becomes intrigued when he overhears two soldiers mentioning aliens as they enter the room Olga just went into. He stealthily slips through the door after them.
In the control room, contractor Gunther Melmac (Brendan Hunt) claims to have found a signal coming from interstellar space, which he believes to be the first extraterrestrial contact. When he plays the signal he recorded, Elio immediately recognizes it as the same mysterious sounds he heard earlier from his transceiver. Melmac isolates the mysterious sounds and discovers they’re the spoken greetings from Voyager’s Golden Record.
Melmac believes that someone in interstellar space found the message and is sending it back to Earth as a reply. He shares that he’s already rerouted every satellite to send the signal back, mentioning that there might be a few system failures due to the massive amount of power required to transmit the signal into deep space. However, Olga remains skeptical. She dismisses Melmac and orders a soldier to escort him out. She then reminds all personnel that they are orbital analysts and their job is tracking space debris, not chasing rogue UFO signals.
While everyone leaves the control room for a five-minute break, Elio comes out of hiding and starts recording his own voice, pleading for aliens to come and get him. When the message is successfully sent, it causes a power outage at Montez AFB and nearly costs Olga her job.As Elio becomes increasingly obsessed with aliens and spirals out of control, Olga is forced to send him to a sleepaway camp, Caver Academy, hoping Elio can learn some discipline and take responsibility for his actions.
On the first night at camp, a group of bullies led by Caleb chases Elio into the forest, seeking revenge for the trouble Elio caused him and Bryce earlier. Just as the group catches up to Elio and Caleb is about to throw a punch, time stops. A portal opens in the sky and a tractor beam pulls Elio inside. The portal suddenly closes and disappears. Elio finds himself in an empty chamber. There, he meets a liquid supercomputer named Ooooo (Shirley Henderson), who welcomes him to the Communiverse, a place where the greatest minds in the universe gather to share knowledge and innovations.
After his arrival, Elio is greeted by three ambassadors. There’s Questa of Gom (Jameela Jamil), Helix of Falluvinum (Brandon Moon), and Tegmen of Tegmeg (Matthias Schweighöfer). They’ve gathered to celebrate Elio Solís as the newest candidate to join the Communiverse. Mistaking him for Earth’s leader, they explain they’ve searched the universe for like-minded souls and new species. Elio is told that if all the Communiverse members agree, he can become one of them. They take Elio to meet Naos (Atsuko Okatsuka), the creator of the Communidiscs. All members use these discs to control gravity and temperature, as well as to translate all known languages in real-time.
Elio soon realizes the ambassadors are treating him so well because they believe he is the leader of Earth. They received the reply he sent and misinterpreted it. Before Elio can correct the misunderstanding, Ooooo appears and interrupts them. The liquid supercomputer notifies the ambassadors of an urgent matter involving another candidate, requiring their immediate attention.
The Communiverse council convenes to assess Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett), the Blood Emperor of Hylurg, who wants to join their ranks. Lord Grigon offers highly advanced weapons, claiming that when combined with the Communiverse’s technology, they would be unstoppable. However, Ambassador Helix announces that the Communiverse’s assessment has concluded that Lord Grigon is not a fit. Furious at being declined, Lord Grigon declares he will return to take the Communiverse by force.
Frightened and frantic, the ambassadors realize they’re no match for Lord Grigon’s brutality. Naos suggests they run and hide. Helix agrees, urging the others to flee to the edge of the universe where Lord Grigon won’t find them. When Elio asks if he can go with them, Helix waves him off, stating that since Elio isn’t officially a member, and they can’t accept new applications in this situation. Questa suggests someone should try to reason with Lord Grigon, but the ambassadors are too terrified. Just then, Ooooo appears and informs Elio he’ll be returned to Earth to continue his life as it was. Desperate, Elio volunteers to talk to Lord Grigon and resolve the conflict. Helix offers to make Elio a member of the Communiverse if he can get Grigon to go away.
Oooooo creates a clone of Elio using his DNA and cloning clay. Oooooo explains that the clone will be sent back to Earth as a temporary replacement while the real Elio negotiates with warlord Grigon. Before the clone leaves, Elio instructs him to act normal and not show the low self-esteem and desperation to belong he always feels. The clone steps through the portal back to the exact spot where he was abducted, just as Caleb is about to throw a punch.
When Grigon and his fleet return to the Communiverse, Elio boards a spaceship alone to negotiate. He could easily flee, but for the first time in his life, he feels responsible for others, knowing that the Communiverse’s fate depends on him. Gathering his courage, Elio confronts Grigon, hoping he can somehow talk him out of attacking.
Elio fails to convince Grigon to leave the Communiverse alone, which only infuriates the warlord. Grigon captures Elio and throws him in a cell where he’ll be forced to watch as Grigon destroys the Communiverse. Meanwhile on Earth, Olga is initially surprised by her nephew’s good behavior and obedience after picking him up from camp. However, she gradually grows suspicious, unable to shake the feeling that the boy might not be the real Elio.
Back on Grigon’s ship, Elio escapes his cell through a small vent and stumbles upon Glordon (Remy Edgerly). Elio befriends Glordon and reveals the truth that he’s just a kid the Communiverse mistakenly believes is Earth’s leader. When Elio learns that Glordon is Grigon’s son, he sees an opportunity to use him as a bargaining chip to renegotiate with Grigon. Elio asks Glordon to help him, and Glordon happily agrees. Together, they flee Grigon’s ship and return to the Communiverse just in time, right before Grigon opens fire.
Directed by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina, from a screenplay by Julia Cho, Mark Hammer, and Mike Jones, ELIO is an animated sci-fi film about a young boy struggling to find where he belongs after losing both parents. Eager to leave Earth and explore life beyond the stars, he gets his wish when he’s invited to join an interplanetary organization, only to find himself caught up in a cosmic misadventure.
While the story is fairly straightforward without any groundbreaking twists, the movie is still entertaining and has decent pacing. The main character is quite complex as he learns to navigate life through adventure and by meeting alien life forms, which helps him grow as a person.
The film features stunning visuals, as expected from Pixar Animation Studios. However, the film has some muddled sections that would benefit from tighter editing. Despite these narrative flaws, the final act is excellent and brings the entire film to a delightful conclusion.
ELiO premiered at the El Capitan Theatre on 10 June 2025. It was theatrically released in the United States on 20 June.
