Elio

Last night I spontaneously decided to see Elio and I loved the dazzling animation and the touching message.  Elio Solis (Yonas Kibreab) is sent to live with his aunt Olga (Zoe Saldana), an Air Force Major, after the death of his parents but he feels like he has interrupted her dream of becoming an astronaut and that she would be better off without him.  He is also bullied by the other kids on the Air Force base because of his obsession with life in space and he feels very lonely.  Elio overhears an analyst named Gunther Melmac (Brendan Hunt) tell Olga that a message has been received in response to the Voyager 1 space probe and he contrives to answer it which results in his abduction by an alien ship.  He is thrilled when he is welcomed to the Communiverse, an intergalactic organization where aliens share information about their home planets, as a candidate to be the Earth's ambassador.  However, he must first prove himself so he volunteers to negotiate with Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett), a warlord who is threatening the Communiverse.  He tries various methods to appease Grigon but they fail so he decides to use his more peaceful son Glordon (Remy Edgerly) as a bargaining chip.  Eventually, Elio and Glordon bond with each other because they both feel alone and misunderstood but will they ever find where they really belong?  This is absolutely adorable and I loved the world-building for the Communiverse and the character design for all of the aliens because everything is so colorful and luminous.  I especially loved Glordon as a character because he is incredibly endearing.  My favorite moments are when clones are made of Elio and Glordon to take their places and both Olga and Grigon realize the switch and prefer the originals (I enjoyed Olga and Grigon's character arcs as parents who are overwhelmed and make mistakes but learn that the most important thing is to show acceptance and love for Elio and Glordon).  The message that you are never alone is a powerful one the comparison between searching for life in space and searching for connection on Earth really works.  I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would and highly recommend it.