Lessons from Elio Movie Review was written by Nathaniel S. Published on Read Reel Reviews, this post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before Watching the Elio Movie
Length: 1 hr. 39 mins.
Categories: Comedy, Action, Adventure, Animated
Date Released: June 20th, 2025
Rating: PG
Suggested Age Range: 7 and up
Warnings: Death of parents/family, comic violence, Near drowning, feeling unloved, and some scary/creepy moments and creatures
Quick Summary of the Elio Movie
Elio has trouble spending time with other kids his age or anyone else on Earth really. That’s why he has one mission: to get abducted by aliens. One day, this opportunity presents itself and Elio is thrust into an adventure beyond his possible expectations. This is an funny, emotional movie that tackles the topics of grief, loneliness, and belonging.
Elio Movie Parent Review
Elio is a very fun, yet emotional story of a young boy who is struggling to relate or fit in with anyone. He feels he isn’t wanted by anyone on Earth. So, he has a desire to try to get abducted by aliens. This does actually happen and he inadvertently becomes the ambassador of Earth. This pits him against Grigon, a violent alien who either wants to be accepted by the communiverse or will take it by force.
This leads Elio to meet Glordon, Grigon’s son. From there, both kids eventually find what they want in need from their friends and adults in their lives. There are a lot of ups and downs in this movie, but ultimately ends in a pretty positive place.
There are a few things to definitely make sure your kids can handle before watching this movie. In a movie with aliens, you are going to have some different looking creatures, which may be scary for younger viewers (especially the scarier characters like Grigon). One of the subplots revolves around having clones, which oddly have little horror movie-esque scenes that do end with comedy for the most part. Younger viewers may struggle with the concept of these being clones and think the main characters are killed.
Several intense moments take place in which you think Elio may die (he doesn’t), but younger viewers may get too spooked at certain moments. Besides all this, there are a lot of family dynamics that may be difficult for some viewers. I dive into this in the next section.
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A Note for Adoptive/Foster Families
Right off the bat, let’s discuss the parental relations in this movie. Elio’s parents are recently passed and he is living with his aunt. Although Aunt Olga is trying, Elio strongly feels that he is unwanted by he or anyone on Earth. Glordon also has some big feelings regarding his parents. His father is wanting him to be a massive killing machine (which Glordon does not want to do). This leads Glordon to feel that he can’t live up to his father’s expectations. There is also a brief mention that Glordon’s mother is off fighting in galactic wars, but she is never shown on-screen.
Most of these big feelings are resolved by the end of the movie, at least on some level. Glordon’s dad and Elio’s aunt have big moments of revealing their love for their kids. Obviously, this doesn’t fix all the issues, but is a step in the right direction and opens those relationships for future healing. In the typical Pixar fashion, this movie does have a lot of big feelings and some of them may be difficult for kids with difficult relationships with their parents.
3 Lessons from Elio Movie
Lesson #1: All Kids Need Love and Acceptance
THis is the common thread between our two main character of the film, Elio and Glordon. Fro different reasons, each kid didn’t believe their caregivers loved them. Fortunately, by the end of the film, both kids have a much better understanding of their caregivers and their love for them.
Lesson #2: Even Some Good Kids Can Be Bullies
When kids just want acceptance, you can see that they may go through with things that they wouldn’t necessarily do on their own. This is shown through the character Bryce who does end up befriending Elio after taking part of bullying his earlier.
Lesson #3: Earth is Worth Fighting For
Elio stated that he had never felt like he had felt like he belonged there, but realized how beautiful it was by the end of his adventure. You can see that in this quote:
This place is amazing, but Earth is home. I didn’t give it a chance, but now I want to try. – Elio
Thanks for reading our Lessons from Elio Movie Review. You can check out our Favorite Elio Movie Quotes here.
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