Red Sonja (2025) Film Review

Captured, chained and forced to fight for survival, Red Sonja must battle her way through the blood-soaked pits of a tyrant’s empire while rallying an army of outcasts to reclaim her freedom and take down Dragan and his ruthless bride, Dark Annisia.

Red Sonja is directed by M.J. Bassett director of Deathwatch (2002), Wilderness (2006), Solomon Kane (2009), Silent Hill Revelation (2012), Inside Man: Most Wanted (2019) and Endangered Species (2021). 

Since 2008 there has been several attempts at trying to make a second Red Sonja film, the 1985 Red Sonja was the very definition of an 80s fantasy movie that was quite honestly never good to begin with. Despite bombing at the box office and getting torn to shreds critically, a second Red Sonja film was released. 

While I do think this one is actually better in a few ways than the 1985 one, that is really not saying a whole lot. I absolutely admire the attempt by M.J. Bassett to try and take a very 80s fantasy film and figure out how to make it work in 2025 even if the attempt is ultimately a misfire. 

The best part about Red Sonja is Matilda Lutz, she does the best she can with such a very weak script but still ends up giving a better performance than Brigitte Neilson did in the 1985 film. Lutz just gives a more convincing performance as Red Sonja and goes for a more quiet yet effective approach that ultimately fares better in the end. The acting overall is a step up from the 1985 movie, while a bit goofy at times the supporting cast the very least this time around offer some entertainment during the movie’s more drawn out parts. 

The 1985 movie is better when it comes to technical aspects that’s mainly due to a higher budget which is something this version does not have and is very evident almost immediately. While the cinematography, production design and such aren’t awful, they very clearly worked with what they could do it unfortunately does take the viewer out of the movie during certain moments. With a higher budget I think M.J. Bassett could have actually done a lot more here to give the movie’s world more life and perhaps may have resulted in a more focused and imaginative experience. 

The movie’s world feels very empty and just does not have a whole lot of personality, which leads into the main problem with this version of Red Sonja….the writing. This movie is not much different than your bad early 2000s fantasy movie, it’s very reminiscent of films like Eragon (2006) or Dungeons & Dragons (2000s) a collection of fantasy elements that ultimately don’t add up into anything new or special. The villain Emperor Dragan the Magnificent is a very nothing villain despite a somewhat entertaining performance from Robert Sheehan. 

It’s admirable what M.J. Bassett was trying to go for here with Red Sonja. But unfortunately the technical aspects combined with the bland fantasy tropes really hold this one back from being great.

Red Sonja is available on all VOD platforms.

4/10 D+

Bambi: The Reckoning (2025) Film Review


After a mother and son get in a car wreck, they soon become hunted by Bambi, a mutated deer. The grief-stricken creature embarks on a rampage seeking revenge for the death of his mother

Bambi: The Reckoning is directed by Dan Allen director of Unhinged (2017), Mummy Reborn (2019) and It Came From Below (2021) this film serves as the fourth installment in The Twisted Childhood Universe (TCU) and is a horror retelling of the 1923 novel Bambi, a Life in the Woods.

Bambi is next to get the horror treatment and well it goes about as well as you would think, at the very least I can say that this is better than Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023) but considering how terrible that movie was that’s not exactly an accomplishment. 

This movie suffers from a lot of the exact same problems as the rest of these movies in this series do, they take themselves way too seriously and don’t lean into having this comedic tone. That’s especially evident with this one which surprisingly has a emotional ending that while is the best part of the movie, makes the rest of the movie a complete whiplash in tone. It’s an ending that works fine enough in the context of the story, but only proves how serious these movies want to be taken which ends up backfiring hard.

The creature design for Bambi is admittedly pretty neat, it’s far and away better than anything the first Blood and Honey (2023) had and I would go as far as to say it surpasses Blood and Honey 2 (2024) and Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare (2025) when it comes to design. The design is the closest to not taking itself seriously and at the very least it makes for a couple of fun kills. 

With that being said however, the rest of the movie does not have a whole lot going on here. Much like the rest of these movies, the human characters are incredibly bland who are only there to add up the kill count. The acting isn’t dreadful here but nobody here gives a passable performance, the emotional family aspect of the movie is incredibly out of place here. Sure it makes sense for Bambi as that is part of the story, but for the human characters it’s just another dull plot point added into a movie that already feels way too long despite only being 80 minutes. 

Overall Bambi: The Reckoning has a couple decent moments here and there but that’s really about it. There really isn’t anything special to be said here, it’s yet another movie in this series that settles with being a dull and forgettable horror movie with a bunch of kills rather than actually being decently fun. 

Bambi: The Reckoning is available on all VOD platforms.

3/10 D-

The Home (2025) Film Review

Sentenced to community service at a retirement home, Max is told that residents on the fourth floor are strictly off-limits as they require special care. Suspicious and curious, he soon uncovers a chilling secret that puts everyone’s lives in danger.

The Home is directed by James DeMonaco director of Staten Island (2009), The Purge franchise (2013-2021) and The Is The Night (2021).

The Home is if you took Get Out (2017) and completely missed the point on why it was successful, quite frankly saying that the movie is trying to be Get Out (2017) is a bit generous due to how nonsensical the movie really is. 

The performances are not great at all, Pete Davidson has shown he can give a strong performance particularly with The King Of Staten Island (2020). While I do appreciate the attempt by Davidson to go for something a bit different here it does not work in the slightest due to how much of a mess the script really is. Pete Davidson plays Max a foster child whose foster brother died by suicide, he ends up growing up to be a graffiti artist that ends up working out a deal with his foster father. The deal being he does community service which of course is looking after the retirement home. 

As you probably predicted the retirement home ends up being strange and you can probably have a good guess as to what ends up happening from then, the writing is filled to the brim with horror cliches you have come to expect. The dialogue is wooden and has no personality at all going on here, John Glover and Bruce Altman who are otherwise great actors don’t get a whole lot to work with here at all. 

Strangely enough it’s the editing that does this movie in. With so many abrupt cuts it’s next impossible for scenes to sit and breathe or create momentum. The Home feels like if someone was closing their eyes and trying to build a giant LEGO set, sure it might be a fun joke to do with friends but if you are seriously wanting to build that set it’s not going to happen that way. It’s a disorganized mess that lacks any sort of momentum due to how choppy the editing really often times leaning towards this amateurish feel. 

Overall The Home is a disaster, at the very least it’s forgettable so you don’t have it on your mind for that long. 

The Home is available on all VOD platforms.

1/10 F

Most Anticipated Films Of September 2025!

We are at the last stretch of the year, this month has a lot of interesting releases! The NYFF starts this month and I will be going so look out for early reactions and my reviews! There’s going to be a ton of reviews this month, I have so much catching up to do due to being sick and such. So this will be a busy but still fun month.

14. Pools – Released today (Theaters)

13. All Of You – September 26th (Apple TV+)

12. The Man In The Basement – September 12th (Theaters) and September 26th (Hulu)

11. Eleanor The Great – September 26th (Theaters)

10. Splitsville – Released today (Theaters)

9. American Sweatshop – September 19th (Theaters)

8. Spinal Tap II: The End Continues – September 12th (Theaters)

7. The History Of Sound – September 12th

6. Nirvana The Band The Show The Movie – September 12th (Theaters)

5. The Long Walk – September 12th (Theaters)

4. Him – September 19th (Theaters)

3. A Big Bold Beautiful Journey – September 19th (Theaters)

2. Highest 2 Lowest – Released today (Apple TV+)

1. One Battle After Another – September 26th (Theaters)

Twinless (2025) Film Review

Two men who lost their respective twin brothers develop a growing friendship after meeting in a support group.

Twinless is directed by James Sweeney who previously directed Straight Up (2019). 

Twinless was a huge surprise for me, all that I knew about this film is it got rave reactions at Sundance (I’m mad that I missed it there) and that Dylan O’Brien gave an incredible performance. I’m happy to say that I’m joining the choir on both of these, this is a dark comedy that hits a home run very early on and keeps going from there. 

The performances all around are fantastic, the number one thing you are going to hear when someone talks about this film is Dylan O’Brien’s performance and that is completely justified. O’Brien gives not only one of the best performances of the year but the best performance of his career. How he’s able to balance the comedic moments with the dramatic ones is truly fascinating, his character Roman has this added character development that keeps him from the audience disliking him. We see him have this sense of confidence even when the words don’t really match said confidence. It’s a fantastic performance that shines the whole way through the film. 

James Sweeney (who also wrote, directed and produced the film) as Dennis is also quite fantastic here as well. He perfectly captures someone who yearns for closeness without wanting to build a connection first, he wants it all there readily available to him as soon as he starts to talk with someone. Sweeney does a fantastic job of portraying this flawed character that the audience still has empathy for since it’s established early on both him and Roman lost their twins. It’s especially evident with Dennis we see the scenes of him yearning for a connection, it’s something we all want connection but that sort of thing takes time to build into something powerful. Sweeney does a fantastic job of showcasing how messy and sort of unhinged that rushing a connection can be. 

The writing is incredibly well done, it flows very well and has this sort of electrifying energy to it that feels natural. There’s a lot of themes going on here some of which I already touched on, of course there’s the theme of losing your twin or someone in general. As I said before that’s established early on in the film and while it’s done pretty quickly it’s still very well done and explored. It’s what kickstarters Dennis’s whole yearning connection sort of deal, the sense of loneliness is also present which I’ve said before in some of my other reviews that has always fascinated me and that’s no exception here. The sense of loneliness comes from Dennis’s character you can tell through his actions of being desperate there’s this feel of loneliness following him and eating him up, it’s something that truly never goes away and only gets bigger as the film goes on. 

Then there’s having empathy for messy and flawed characters which I’ve said James Sweeney does such a fantastic job of creating. He makes these characters feel incredibly real, he doesn’t make these characters cartoonishly unlikable or doesn’t make it feel forced. He does this in such a quiet yet strategically done manner that it ends up shocking the viewer at certain points. 

Finally there’s the direction from James Sweeney which is beautifully done, he’s able to masterfully balance the dark comedy and the drama, mix all of the themes I just mentioned and create something unhinged yet beautiful in this strange sense. It helps that the directing is very exciting, Sweeney is quite clearly passionate about what he’s sharing to the viewer and that really shows as soon as the film begins. 

Overall Twinless is one of the best films of the year that has excellent performances, clever writing and wonderful directing. James Sweeney is certainly a director to look out for, go see this one if you have the chance. 

Twinless releases in theaters Friday

9/10 A

Eden (2025) Film Review


A group of disillusioned Europeans settles on a remote, uninhabited island in the Galápagos. They soon discover that their greatest threat isn’t the brutal climate or deadly wildlife, but one another. As tensions spiral and desperation takes hold, a twisted power struggle unfolds, leading to betrayal, violence and death.

Eden is directed by Ron Howard director of Apollo 13 (1995), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Cinderella Man (2005), Rush (2013), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Hillbilly Elegy (2020) and several others. The film is based on the true story of several European settlers who arrive on the Floreana Island in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, Pre-World War II hoping to start a life there. 

I had my doubts on this one, there was a lot of mixed reactions about this one and that sort of lines up with Ron Howard’s films as of lately (although I will admit Thirteen Lives (2022) was solid enough) so I’m a bit surprised with Eden. The film does fall off a bit in some sections and the film does feel like it’s dragging out in some areas, however that doesn’t stop the film from being genuinely interesting! 

The cast does a lot of the heavy lifting, Sydney Sweeney, Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby and Daniel Brühl are the standouts here. Sweeney has a scene where she gives birth (it’s just as crazy as the one in Immaculate (2024) ) that provides a lot of tension and is actually uncomfortable to watch at times. That scene aside, Sweeney absolutely nails the atmosphere of the film and works incredibly well with the rest of the cast. Jude Law and Daniel Brühl are just fun to watch and give their usual performances that ooze with confidence and Vanessa Kirby tackles her character Dora Strauch’s emotional transformation masterfully. A common positive among the cast is they all work together incredibly well, whether it be serious moments or small conversations they bring you right into the film and keep you the whole way through. 

The cinematography from Mathias Herndl is beautifully done, it captures the atmosphere of the setting and at times lets location do all of the talking which is expertly executed. We constantly get this sense that the characters are alone and feel that way throughout the film, that’s one of the main reasons why the film works as well as it does. It captures the spirit of the true story quite well and the cinematography really shares a lot of that. 

The writing is strong, it’s perhaps one of Ron Howard’s more darker films (it’s mean spirited at times which is effective) and showcases the type of true story that is absolutely insane. It’s the type of true story where if you went up and told someone about this they would look it up just to make sure you are not saying gibberish. There’s themes of survival and power struggles as we see the characters start to turn on each other, it’s not anything groundbreaking but it’s done decently well and makes for some great suspense and intrigues as to where the film is going to go. 

Overall Eden is a really solid film, it’s insane that this is based on a true story and I’m glad Ron Howard managed to tell it in this pretty strong way that gets the viewer invested. 

Eden is currently in theaters. 

8/10 B+

The Life Of Chuck (2025) Film Review

From childhood to adulthood, Charles “Chuck” Krantz experiences the wonder of love, the heartbreak of loss, and the multitudes contained in all of us.

The Life Of Chuck is directed by Mike Flanagan director of Oculus (2013), Hush (2016), Before I Wake (2016), Ouija: Origin Of Evil (2016), Gerald’s Game (2017) and Doctor Sleep (2019). 

Mike Flanagan is a modern horror director who quickly made a name for himself throughout the years, whether it be his number of successful Netflix Series such as The Haunting Of Hill House (2018) or his mostly strong lineup of films he’s directed over the years. The Life Of Chuck is a different swing that Flanagan makes when it comes to his films and it absolutely lands. The amount of love, passion, power and thoughtfulness that is put into the film is evident by Flanagan’s writing which leads to some beautiful moments that leaves the viewer in tears.

The performances are absolutely beautiful, Tom Hiddleston plays Chuck a man whose life we follow through the various stages of his life. The whole idea of this film is never take life for granted and live every single moment. That is perfectly encapsulated through Hiddleston’s performance out of all the variations of Chuck, Hiddleston is the one who captures this the most. Hiddleston especially showcases this during a dance sequence that takes place during the middle portion of the film, its jaw dropping, full of life and is absolutely beautiful. Karen Gillan is fantastic as well, she gives a beautiful performance and works incredibly well with Chiwete Ejiofor who’s just as striking. 

Finally there’s Mark Hamill who gives such a brilliant performance and might be one of the best of his career. Hamill plays Albie, Chuck’s paternal grandfather who is going through his own issues (alcoholism and depression) there’s a monologue in the film where Albie talks about the significance of math and the inherent goodness of people, it’s a striking moment of the film that when you finish watching you realize that is the core of what makes this film so fantastic, Albie is a character who captures the feel of heartbreak. You feel alone, don’t want to invest in anything and yet through it all he you feel excited to see the potential that someone has. Albie looks forward to the potential Chuck has even through all of his pain, Hamill is the film’s heart and such a powerful one. 

The writing is absolutely beautiful, the theme of living every single moment like it’s your last might be a theme that’s been discussed numerous times. But there’s a reason why that’s the case, you never know what life has in store for you, lives are cut short due to various circumstances and this film perfectly captures celebrating life. It’s one of the major parts of why we are all connected even if we don’t know each other personally. Due to this, moments of seeing Chuck just have a quick chat with someone he doesn’t know or just waving feel all the more gut punching and meaningful, actions you would not really think about again have so much power in this case. While yes the usual Stephen King dialogue (I forgot to mention that this is a Stephen King adaption it’s from his compilation book If It Bleeds), does show up from time to time. That does not take away how powerful the writing remains throughout the film. 

Lastly there’s Mike Flanagan’s direction which is quite raw, outside of a few moments there’s so much realness to the performances. It really does feel like you are sitting listening to someone’s life story and you were personally invited. I’ve mentioned before in my reviews that a theme I love that movies explore is looking at the daily lives of a certain person or groups of people. That’s done incredibly well here, it’s a different approach but a very welcomed one that feels just as real as many other times this has been done. That’s thanks to Flanagan’s direction who we see grow further as a filmmaker, it’s quite beautiful to see and shows how much passion he really put here. 

The Life Of Chuck is a beautiful film, it’s inspiring and the type of film that feels like a warm hug. The film is a celebration of life and living in the moment something we all should do. 

The Life Of Chuck is available on all VOD platforms.

9/10 A

Materialists (2025) Film Review

A young and ambitious New York City matchmaker finds herself torn between a seemingly perfect match and her imperfect ex-boyfriend

Materialists is directed by Celine Song director of Past Lives (2023).

Following up such a beautiful film such as Past Lives was always going to be a tough task, it’s the sort of mindset of that you constantly ask yourself “where do I go from here?” While Materialists is not as good as Past Lives and might not be as subtle, there is still a lot here of what worked spectacularly well in Past Lives and once again Celine Song tackles various themes in compelling ways. 

The acting all around is quite fantastic, Dakota Johnson gives yet another solid performance to add to her line of work, it’s a bit of a more quiet performance for her but that’s not a bad thing at all. She works incredibly well with Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans (has very strong chemistry with the latter) and the last half of the film is where she truly stands out and gives sort of a heart breaking performance when the film goes into some brutally honest conversations about modern dating and the unpredictability of connection.

Pedro Pascal is great here but he does not get as much screen time as Johnson or Evans, admittedly his character Harry Castillo isn’t as interesting as the rest of the characters around him. But Pascal’s performance is more than enough to make up for it, this might not be one of Pascal’s all time great performances but it’s a bit different from what he usually does. 

Chris Evans is the standout of the film, as soon as he enters the film he steals every single scene he’s in. There’s something about the way his character John Pitts talks that makes the dialogue flow so well, he still has that great comedic impulse in him it’s due to him that some of the humor present in the film works at all. His chemistry with Johnson is excellent and there’s some genuinely touching moments between the two. Evans does a fantastic job of matching the atmosphere Celine Song is going for, he’s able to quickly adapted to the tone shift that appears in the later half of the film quite easily and from there goes all out with his performance. 

While the writing does have its hiccups at times (some of the side characters could have used more development) and there are moments that could have absolutely used a bit more of a power push. I do think what Celine Song is telling the viewer is done very well. Yes the tone shift during the later half of the film is a bit bizarre, but it works in the film’s favor. The first bit of the film is a romantic comedy and quite a great one, but then the film hits you with this brutally honest conversation about modern dating and the horrifying unpredictability of connection. Some things are too good to be true, it’s a harsh reality that modern dating can easily go from sunshine and rainbows to downright evil behavior in an instant or even on the same night. 

Celine Song’s direction is honest, careful and has this quiet power hit. Whether it be casual conversations between Evans and Johnson or the later half of the film that has tons of hard hitting scenes. Song is able to bring the viewer into the film and make sure they are digesting everything that is going on, in most circumstances tone shifts like what are present in this film would not work. But Celine Song is able to make it work due to how very real this conversation is and by painting a brutally honest picture of how connection can go south. 

Materialists might not be as striking as Past Lives but I think the quiet approach that Celine Song takes with this film is more than enough to justify a viewing. 

Materialists is available on all VOD platforms.

8/10 B+

Eddington (2025) Film Review

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a standoff between a small-town sheriff and mayor sparks a powder keg as neighbour is pitted against neighbour in Eddington, N.M.

Eddington is directed by Ari Aster director of Hereditary (2018), Midsommar (2019) and Beau Is Afraid (2023). 

When the clock reached midnight on January 1st 2020, I don’t think anyone had any sort of clue of how insane, chaotic and disastrous 2020 as a year was going to be. Ari Aster’s Eddington isn’t the first film to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic but it is the first to perhaps show how it heavily affected several people in ways that aren’t so great. The film is not talking about being trapped inside your home for a number of days, it’s talking about the people grew this main character syndrome, the conspiracy theorists, the opportunists who take advantage of well meaning activism and absolutely insane politicians.

For starters the cast is incredibly well done here, Joaquin Phoenix plays Joe Cross which is quite possibly one of his best performances. He starts as this small-town sheriff and eventually a mayoral candidate who over the course of the film becomes more and more insane as paranoia and hostility start to occur. His turn to this maniac is both disturbing as well as hilarious, he’s able to capture the film’s black comedy atmosphere that truly makes certain scenes all the more memorable. Pedro Pascal is also fantastic here, he plays the mayor Ted Garcia who puts on this smile but in reality is a few steps away from having a meltdown, his character largely tackles a lot of the fake persona that a lot of politicians put on for the public and Pascal’s acting does such a good job of capturing that. There’s one particular scene with Phoenix and Pascal that captures this as well as a turning point in the story incredibly well, the way the scene is shot, edited and the use of Katy Perry’s song Fireworks is absolutely brilliant. 

Emma Stone and Austin Butler are both fantastic here as well, while they don’t get the most amount of screen time (especially Butler) they still leave a lasting impression. Butler plays this cult leader Vernon Jefferson Peak, who may come off as rational to people who think exactly like him but to others he’s insane, Emma Stone who plays Louise Cross eventually joins Vernon, Stone’s performance is a bit more quiet than a lot of the rest of the cast but it’s still just as strong and important. Lastly there’s Deirdre O’Connell who plays Dawn, Louise’s mother an insane conspiracy theorist that is very reminiscent of someone who clicks on clearly made up Facebook news articles and takes their word for it. She’s the person who would say “plandemic” at the Thanksgiving dinner you are with your family, O’Connell nails every single scene she’s in and is one of the film’s best assets. This is largely where the conspiracy theorist part of the film comes in and it’s done so perfectly and really does capture all of the insanity behind it. 

The cinematography combined with the setting and the atmosphere are all spectacular. Cinematographer Darius Khondjii is incredibly well detailed and captures the insanity of this film. The film does sort of feel like you stepped into a demented Wile E. Coyote cartoon especially when the film throws its comedy into the mix. The use of Albuquerque and Truth Or Consequences New Mexico is absolutely brilliant, the film puts you in these areas where it’s a bit smaller in scale but that truly makes the last half of the film all the more terrifying. Not to mention that the locations really match the film’s many themes and are genuinely beautiful as well. 

Lastly there’s the film’s writing and many different ways of tackling certain kinds of people during the pandemic. I’ve already mentioned the conspiracy theorists so I’ll skip over that and talk about the opportunists, there’s a scene that tackles the BLM protests. While there are people there that genuinely want change, you have people who are simply there to either argue, be performative or want internet fame. The film shows this incredibly well, it shows that certain people will do anything to get fame and claim to be good people yet don’t do anything beyond being performative. 

This is a portion of the film that tackles this theme of nobody in this film is talking about the same thing or having the same conversation, the ability to reach other is completely meaningless because either nobody WANTS to listen or flat out does not care. The film shares this as this nightmarish world that became more noticeable when 2020 happened, it’s something that to this day is still very present. Ari Aster does such a masterful job of portraying this in such a grim yet humorous way that when you do laugh you are quickly shifted back into this “oh wait a second this is actually happening” type of feel. Something in our way of communication broke and has not recovered and quite possibly may not recover. 

Eddington captures how terrible and nightmarish 2020 was as a year, it’s done in both this dreamlike and nightmarish way to the point where you feel like you are in purgatory. It’s one of the best films of the year and truly shows why Ari Aster is such a master at his craft. 

Eddington is available on all VOD platforms.

10/10 A+

Elio (2025) Film Review

Elio, an underdog with an active imagination, finds himself inadvertently beamed up to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide. Mistakenly identified as Earth’s ambassador to the rest of the universe, he starts to form new bonds with eccentric aliens while discovering who he’s truly meant to be.

Elio is directed by Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi which is the former’s directorial debut with the latter previously directing Turning Red (2022). 

Elio is a pretty solid addition to the Pixar library, while there might not be anything new thematically or even story wise going on here, the huge amount of charm is undeniable and it all adds up to make an incredibly fun and adventurous experience for the viewer. 

First and foremost the voice cast does a pretty solid job here, Yonas Kibreab plays Elio a character that the viewer can quickly relate to as soon as the film starts. Losing both his parents at a very young age, Elio’s imagination roams free which leads to some genuinely raw moments that, he’s obsessed with communicating with the outside world. Something a lot of kids did when I was growing up and I’m sure the viewer will have the same sort of feeling. The film portrays all of this in such a beautiful way that makes Elio feel like a very real character, yes the film does take liberties in throwing in fantasy elements when it gets to the aliens. But throughout the film the raw feeling of Elio as a character never goes away. 

Zoe Saldaña as Olga Solís (Elio’s aunt) is a very important part in this story, there’s sort of an emotional separation between Olga and Elio. Olga gave up on her dreams of becoming an astronaut so she can raise her nephew. Elio’s obsession nearly costs Olga’s job which causes a distance between them. The film explores the pain of both sides incredibly well, it’s done in this thoughtful and genuinely touching way that really makes the viewer immediately care for Elio and Olga.

The animation is stunning, the use of color is very top notch, when the film reaches the space portion of the film it really does feel like you are in another world. While yes the space theme does feel a bit familiar in a lot of ways, what Sharafian and Shi are able to do with it is what makes it so fun, they are able to bring this fun aesthetic and a silly atmosphere that it’s enjoyable. You have your heartwarming moments as well to even things out. It’s some nice world building that while may not going into very deep territory, is still solid enough to capture the main mood of the film’s world. 

The writing has many themes going on here such as feeling out of place, loss and loneliness all of which the film does a pretty solid job of exploring. The theme of feeling out of place in particular is beautifully done, combining it with the whole space theme is a smart move as well. Elio is in this spot where he doesn’t know where he belongs due to the loss of his parents, his connection to the outside world can only help him so much. This all leads to beautiful moments that are captured quite well and really are striking in their own ways. 

The main criticism here comes from most of the aliens, outside of Gordon who does get quite a bit of development. The rest of the aliens don’t really get a huge amount of development, sure they have a few key differences from on another but there really is not anything that stands out. The antagonist Lord Grigon is just kind of there, he’s fine and he gets the job done but that’s really about it. I do find it interesting that the world itself has a lot more personality and gets more development than most of its inhabitants.

But as it stands Elio is a very strong addition to Pixar’s library, it’s touching, heartwarming and such a sweet film that you can’t help but smile after watching. 

Elio is available on all VOD platforms.

8/10 B+