Elio is a Pixar film that rigorously ticks all the boxes. Protagonist is an orphan? Yep. Found family? Check. A minor on a poorly supervised adventure? Let’s get this thing in gear!

Elio lost his parents before the start of the film to an undisclosed accident. He lives with his aunt, who is a prospective astronaut who works at a space agency monitoring orbital debris (this is actually a thing people do in modern times; that part isn’t sci-fi). Elio, who thinks there isn’t anyone on Earth who really wants him (his aunt is a busy lady) decides he wants to be abducted by aliens.

Crazy plan that causes unforeseen trouble? Heck yeah. Check.

Elio naturally does manage to contact aliens and get abducted, but they mistakenly assume he’s the leader of Earth (a natural mistake). Through a series of unlikely events, Elio becomes the only hope of an alien federation under threat from an aggressor they’d rather hide from than confront.

Naturally, this all goes exactly according to plan.

If I were to sum up this one, I call it a mashup of Galaxy Quest and Lilo & Stitch. More so than most Pixar films, I’d say this one skews young for its target audience, too. For instance, while Toy Story is all about friendship and growing up at its core, all the vintage toys are a huge nostalgia kick for the older audience, as are the implications of the world around Andy’s room. In Finding Nemo, Marlin has a whole story of his own for the parents watching. Elio seems to be a straightforward attempt at a kids’ movie, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to watch.

Just don’t go in looking for that extra "family movie" layer you might get from Wall-E or Inside Out. Take Elio for what it’s trying to be, a fun romp in a sci-fi universe.

If you’ve got Disney+, check it out.