It’s pretty obvious that the original intention was to celebrate the outsider and make a point about finding one’s tribe, but somewhere along the line that all got lost, and we’re left with spectacular film about the vastness of infinity that ends up an Earthbound parable about family ties.

Elio is Pixar at its most original, delivering an extraordinary journey filled with wholehearted sci-fi wonder. Director Domee Shi and co-director Madeline Sharafian craft a timeless coming-of-age adventure that’s a solid follow-up to their fan fave Turning Red, marking a new standard for Pixar stories.

Directed with vigor and dashes of humor and emotion by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi (“Turning Red”) and Adrian Molina (co-director of “Coco”), “Elio” is laden with Easter eggs and has a killer end-credit bonus scene and pays snappy homage to numerous sci-fi films (“Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” amongst others).