Pixar's new movie Elio does something that the studio rarely does: It brings the horror genre to the table. While it's still Pixar's trademark emotional, kid-friendly story about a kid desperate to connect with aliens in outer space, several key moments in the movie ooze with horror in the best possible way.
Elio (which has changed a lot over the last year or two) stars Yonas Kibreab as the titular kid Elio. He leaves planet Earth to join an alien society where he hopes to fit in better. Eventually, he crosses paths with Brad Garrett's Lord Grigon, a warlord who quickly becomes a problem. Elio debuts in theaters worldwide on Friday, June 20, 2025.
The Direct interviewed directors Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi and producer Mary Alice Drumm to discuss how they managed to sneak some horror DNA into their Pixar storytelling. Sharafian and Shi are big horror fans, specifically sci-fi works, noting that they love the likes of John Carpenter and Ridley Scott.
Those inspirations show clear as day, with Shi telling The Direct that it "just seemed like a really fun opportunity to mix it up a little bit," adding that she knows "Pixar movies make you laugh or they make you cry, but I think we can also get other reactions out of our audiences, too."
Elio Filmmakers Talk About Bringing Horror to Pixar
Both Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian "Are Sci-Fi Horror Fans" Who "Love [Their] John Carpenter."
- The Direct: "One of the things I noticed first and foremost was that it really surprised me how the movie tackles a genre kind of fairly untouched by Pixar, which is horror. It's all throughout the movie. There are several notable scenes. Can you just talk about the choices to really lean into those moments? You know why you chose to do so, and some inspirations that you took? "
Domee Shi: I mean, it just seemed like a really fun opportunity to mix it up a little bit, because, you know, [we] had to cut back like now and then to Earth and see what Olga was doing with this clone version of Elio that was sent to replace him. And we knew that, slowly, through living with the clone, Olga was going to kind of come to some realization that this wasn't her Elio, that maybe she was a good mother figure.
After all that, she did notice and pay attention to all the little details about Elio that she missed, those details that she used to complain about. But how do we do it in a way that's kind of like a little unexpected, a little bit, you know, surprising? And both me and [Madeline] are sci-fi horror fans. We love our John Carpenter. We love our Ridley Scott, and it was just a fun—they came pretty naturally, kind of just through story sessions of just like, Oh, what if this. And then I would, like, run behind a door and be like, what if he did something like that.
Madeline Sharafian: I remember vividly the moment that that scene was thumbnailed for the first time, this sort of creepy scene where the clone is breaking into a military base, anyway, yeah, that was super fun to work on, and it's fun all the way through every department has a blast working on a scene like that.
Shi: I always like to be a little bit scared too, like, it's fun to be a little bit scared. I love Tim Burton movies as a kid growing up, and even now. And there is just something really fun about that, and it's a new emotion. I know Pixar movies make you laugh or they make you cry, but I think we can also get other reactions out of our audiences, too.
Filmmakers Behind Elio Talk About Creating the Communiverse
The Filmmakers Wanted the Communiverse to Be as Vibrant as Possible
- The Direct: "Now, the Communiverse is such a vibrant, creative world that you guys made for this movie. Can you talk about the design philosophies there and just how you came to that final grand scope of what it looks like?"
Domee Shi: We were so lucky to have Harley Jessup as our production designer. He was also the production designer for 'Coco' and 'Ratatouille,' and he's just known for, like, just really, really immersive world building. He does a ton of research, and he really wanted to challenge himself and challenge the art team to create a sci-fi world that we've never seen before.
But the aesthetic look of our movies all comes down to character and supporting the character. And since this is a wish fulfillment movie, since this is a story about a boy that wants to get abducted, [who] has his wish come true, and he arrives at the most magical, like utopic place ever. We had that in mind as we were designing, lighting, and creating the world of the Communiverse, that it should feel like the opposite of his life on Earth. If Earth is, like, we're shooting things very symmetrically, and there's like hard edges and kind of like a desaturated color palette.
Then the space in the Communiverse is the opposite of that. It's an explosion of color, of light, of organic, soft shapes, stained glass, kind of like textures and materials, and aliens of all different shapes and sizes. Elio, who's kind of othered on Earth for being this dorky kid, and he has like an eye patch, like, on the Communiverse, there are aliens with no eyes, there are aliens with three eyes, or one eye. So, just kind of like designing it through his point of view.
The entire conversation with the filmmakers behind Elio can be seen below:
