THE UNIVERSE CALLED… THE WRONG NUMBER.

Young orphan Elio dreams of space, but when he’s abducted by aliens he finds himself representing Earth in negotiations with a warlord.

The fact that the original LGBTQ-colored characterizations that were part of the story vanished during production is almost symbolic of how the film turned out: traditional Pixar quality, but the story is a tad formulaic, with familiar emotional beats. Friendship and the value of finding the right family are key themes in this entertaining space adventure.

Colorful visuals, a good music score, and Brad Garrett is fun as the warlord.

2025-U.S. Animated. 98 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina. Music: Rob Simonsen. Voices of Yonas Kibreab (Elio Solís), Zoe Saldaña (Olga Solís), Remy Edgerly (Glordon), Brandon Moon, Brad Garrett, Jameela Jamil… Kate Mulgrew. 

Trivia: Co-executive produced by Pete Docter. America Ferrera was first cast as Olga. Molina started the project as sole director; after leaving due to creative differences, he retained co-directing credit.