Elio

I mean this in the most earnest, non-derogatory way, but child me would've loved this. This isn't to say that I didn't, but it's a film I would've obsessed over as a child.

In my mind, this is a return to form for Pixar. A gorgeous story of lonliness, found family and the desire to belong, that was filled with so much heart. Sure, perhaps the story beats are a little well-worn, but I really don't find that enough of a reason to not enjoy this when it does what it does so well.

Elio is a wonderfully realised character. It's impressive how quickly you get a sense of who he is and his yearning to belong - honestly the way this is portrayed I think you'd be hard pushed to find somebody who didn't relate to Elio. I found him so enthralling to watch and felt so much more personable than a lot of animated leads as of late.

The film has really strong comedy chops, not sure I've laughed like this at an animated film recently, it's got some genius writing, and fun gimmicks but what really astounded me was the physical comedy on display. It's certaintly something which seen in many animated films but rarely is used so intelligently on humans. The humans in this film felt human. They felt tangible and real, and the physical comedy came more from subtle human moments than the often used outlandish physical comedy used in animation as characters lend themselves to this. It was just a thouroughly refreshing choice in how to use the animated medium.

Speaking of, I think this is yet another step up for Pixar. They are at a point now where it's hard for them to iterate on films which already look stunning, but I was really impressed with a number of elements of this. The water here was beyond incredible, and just how textured and real the world felt.

In classic Pixar fashion, it's also not only hilarious but deeply moving as well. I did cry. Shock. Playing on the themes of feeling alone, especially as a child, really struck me. Perhaps what was more surprising, is how moving I also found the adult characters. His aunt and her story of trying her best for Elio despite the situation she was put it was so touching. And this is to say nothing of Glordon's story which was also a really moving story of acceptance, it just all came together in such a lovely way.

Pribably bias as I was a kid who had stars plastered across his room, felt alone as a child and has a Physics degree so loves this shit, but I think this is perhaps up there with Pixar's better outputs