Pixar’s New Release ‘Elio’ Channels Latino Identity Much Like ‘Coco’ Did

A boy peers up at the sky, longing for answers from a world that never quite knew what to do with him. His name is Elio, and while his adventure is stitched together with cosmic encounters, extraterrestrial councils, and otherworldly creatures, it begins in a place achingly familiar: the ache of feeling different.

Pixar’s latest release, Elio, is already inviting comparisons to Coco, and not without reason. Both stories were shaped by Adrián Molina, whose creative vision brought Coco to life and helped conceive Elio before he stepped away to lead the sequel to the 2017 film. Though the two movies differ in setting and tone, their shared emotional core can be felt from the first few scenes. Where Coco celebrated ancestry and memory, Elio leans into identity, loneliness, and the desire to feel seen.

A Journey That Starts With Loss

Elio lives with his tía Olga, voiced by Zoe Saldaña, after the disappearance of his parents. Their home is filled with quiet cultural cues that speak without explanation. Bright textiles, details that feel Caribbean, family photos that say more than words. Elio himself carries the unspoken weight of growing up between worlds. He carries both Dominican and Mexican roots. His pain feels harder to name. He does not feel understood at school or at home. What begins as longing for escape becomes a literal departure when he is abducted by a galactic coalition known as the communiverso and mistakenly named Earth’s representative.

What follows is a journey outward that reveals as much about what lives within. The film bends expectations. The aliens are not enemies. The battles are not physical. The lessons are emotional and quiet. In the vastness of space, Elio begins to understand what home might actually mean.

The ‘Coco’ Connection in ‘Elio’ and the Beauty of Subtle Representation

For many viewers, Elio may feel like a spiritual sibling to Coco. Both reflect cultural identity without reducing it to a plot point. In Elio, heritage exists in the background with intention. It does not need to be labeled or explained. The representation feels lived in. From the way Olga holds her posture, to the way their home is adorned, to the food on the counter and the cadence of their speech, nothing is forced. Zoe Saldaña brings a stillness to Olga that holds the entire emotional weight of the household. Her love is not loud. It moves carefully through the scenes.

Elio finds solace not from the adults in his orbit, but from Glordon, a creature who shares none of his history but all of his longing. Glordon becomes the mirror through which Elio finally sees his own worth. The friendship they build is a metaphor for every child who ever felt unspoken or overlooked. Through it, the film quietly insists that connection does not require sameness.

A Pixar Film That Feels Personal

What makes Elio distinct from the rest of Pixar’s recent catalog is its choice to tell a story with no easy villains and no loud resolution. The conflict is internal. The hero’s power is empathy. The story ends not with triumph, but with understanding.

Pixar has given us toys, monsters, cars, and feelings. In Elio, it gives us a child who does not belong until he learns he always did. The cultural elements do not ask for applause. They simply exist, and that makes them stronger.

Elio is a boy who wants to leave the planet because he believes no one here understands him. What he finds, in the vast silence of the universe, is that being different never meant being alone. For every child who ever wondered if they were too quiet, too odd, or too far from where they were supposed to be, Elio says something simple.

You were never the wrong shape for this world. You were always meant to be here.

Elio was theatrically released in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on June 20, 2025.