Elio (2025) - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray SteelBook

Elio (Yonas Kibreab) is a young boy who feels unwanted. His parents have recently died, and he’s being looked after by his aunt, Olga (Zoe Saldaña), who is frequently too busy to give him the love and attention that he needs at that age. He finds himself alone a lot, and one day wanders off and learns about the Voyager spacecraft that was sent into outer space, containing a message for contacting lifeforms beyond our own solar system. An obsession begins. Elio henceforth becomes determined to be abducted by aliens, feeling that anywhere else must be better than Earth. Maybe, just maybe, somewhere out there in that vast sea of stars, someone understands him.

The impossible dream comes to be, and Elio makes contact with a community of aliens who believe him to be the ruler of Earth. He doesn’t bother correcting them. What good could come of that? As the ruler of Earth, they want him to join their collective known as the Communiverse, where he will be among the best, brightest brains throughout the galaxy, and respected as an elite member of something truly special. There’s just one problem: Lord Grigon.

Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett) is a warlord space worm who also wants to join the Communiverse, but given his short temper and long bouts of rage, they decide against this, and he immediately vows to become a member by force. The Communiverse panics and tells Elio they’re going to send him back home, and maybe they can discuss this again when this blows over in a thousand years or so. Elio has come so close; he can’t let this slip through his fingers, so he decides to negotiate with the intergalactic space worm.

Elio is my favorite kind of character: The kind of person who lucks into grandiosity just as frequently as they fail. He stumbles backward into success and then, through a combination of determination and grit, holds onto what they have. Sometimes they win, sometimes they fail. But, through it all, they’re always trying. You can’t fault them for that. Along the way, Elio befriends Grigon’s son Glordon (Remy Edgerly), and in each other they both find an ally they never knew they would meet. It’s hard to make friends out there, not just on Earth.

Elio is a fun, cute movie that kids and families ought to enjoy plenty. It contains many life lessons that aren’t easily earned. To get there, Elio must try, fail, lose, pick up the broken pieces, and sally forth. It’s a tale not of fearlessness, but of bravery, that doing something extraordinary can be terrifying, and that’s okay. It’s not an easy thing to learn, to be okay with failure, but Elio seems to have learned the message quickly.

While there’s a lot to enjoy about Elio, it doesn’t quite reach the highs of Pixar’s previous works. It’s not a bad movie; in fact, it’s quite good. It’s well-made, of course (should we expect anything less from Pixar’s technicians?), and the plot moves along at a speedy pace, but there’s a problem with connecting emotionally to the story that I can’t quite put my finger on. Perhaps it’s because, at the end of the story, there’s not much we know about Elio as a person. We know his trauma. We know he’s brave. But we don’t know what makes him tick. Our human representative to the stars could have used a little more humanity.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Elio arrives on home video in a deluxe Steelbook case with a two-disc release. The main feature is found on both a 4K UHD Blu-ray and a standard Blu-ray in 1080p high-definition resolution. The artwork on the case features Elio gazing at the stars, with an alien spacecraft up above. Inside the case, artwork from the film spans the interior. There is also a slip containing a code for digital redemption.

Elio looks incredible all around. I wasn’t expecting anything less, but I was still blown away by the video presentation nonetheless. Pixar is known for its attention to detail on the visual front, and that tradition continues through Elio. Details are sharp, razor sharp—as we follow the Voyager spacecraft in those opening moments, Saturn’s belt is clearly comprised of millions of tiny elements like rocks, debris, and ice crystals. Colors throughout the cosmos are a kaleidoscopic array of greens, purples, blues, and reds. The Dolby Vision HDR grading allows for a brilliant spectrum of colorization during these segments, and they look phenomenal. Honestly, it’s flawless. If this were an Olympic event, I’d expect a table of judges all to hold up a card over their head that reads “10”.

The Dolby Atmos audio mix on Elio isn’t quite gush-worthy as its video counterpart, but it’s also no slouch. Don’t get me wrong, it does a terrific job all around, it’s just not the show-offy mix that it could have been. Rear and overhead effects are used wisely and for maximum impact. Booming alien voices come from above, zipping sounds of spaceships zip from the front to the rear. The subwoofer pounds with LFEs with pointed precision as alien warlords march down a narrow bridge. Dialogue clarity is favored throughout the film, even in its most chaotic moments. It’s an awesome mix all around, it just feels a tiny bit restrained.

Disney/Pixar has put together a nice offering of supplemental features for fans of Elio who want to learn more. There are featurettes that explore the character design, the voice actors, and the process of bringing the story together, plus a gag reel and deleted scenes.

• Inside the Communiverse: The World and Characters of Elio (HD 9:53)
• Out of this World: An Astro Q&A (HD 10:01)
• Astronomic Art Class: Ooooo and Glordon (HD 5:07)
• Extraterrestrial Easter Eggs and Fun Facts (HD 4:02)
• Galactic Gag Reel (HD 2:47)
• Deleted Scenes (HD 18:56)

Elio is a good animated feature that has the makings for a great one in there somewhere. Its story, that of a young outsider who feels at odds with everyone around him, is infinitely relatable. Who hasn’t dreamt of finding a home outside our own, and fitting in with something cooler, better, and more wonderful than what we have? The main character is plucky, resourceful, and courageous, but I wish we knew more about him than surface-level characteristics. Still, while the story fell short, the A/V stats are out of this world, supplemented by a robust offering of special features. Elio is Recommended.