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Pixar’s “Luca,” an Italian-set animated fairy tale concerning two young sea monsters exploring an unknown human world, offers the studio's hallmark visual splendor, yet fails to venture outside of safe waters. After story artist credits on big-time Pixar titles like “ Ratatouille ” and “ Coco ,” “Luca” serves as Enrico Casarosa ’s first time in the director’s chair. Borrowing elements from “ Finding Nemo ” and “ The Little Mermaid ,” Casarosa’s film follows two young Italian sea “monsters,” Luca ( Jacob Tremblay ) and Alberto ( Jack Dylan Grazer ). The former spends his days shepherding the little fish populating his seabed village away from fishing boats. But at night, as he lies awake in his seaweed bed, he dreams of living on the surface. 

Looming against his desires are his mother ( Maya Rudolph ) and father’s ( Jim Gaffigan ) fear from living by a human, sea-monster-hunting oceanfront village. Nevertheless, dry world affectations fall to the ocean floor: an alarm clock, a playing card, and a wrench. These items draw Luca closer to the surface. As does Alberto, an older, confident amphibian boy who now lives alone in a crumbling castle tower by the beach, and claims his father is temporarily traveling. 

If you’re wondering how these creatures with fins, scales, and tails can could live on among humans without being discovered, writers Jesse Andrews (“ Me and Earl and the Dying Girl ”) and Mike Jones (“ Soul ”) have a tidy solution for that. Rather than an evil witch granting him a human appearance, a la “The Little Mermaid,” the sea monsters here can naturally, magically turn mortal. Their ability isn’t controllable, however, as touching water reverts their skin back to their real scaly exterior. But for Luca, such power dangles greater temptation over him.  

Once on dry land, Alberto and Luca form a quick bond. They dream of buying a vespa and traveling the globe together. Their plans nearly come to a halt, however, when Luca’s frightful parents threaten to make him live his oddball Uncle Ugo ( Sacha Baron Cohen , essentially using his Borat voice in a fish) in the trenches. Instead, Luca runs away with Alberto to the town of Portorosso. There, they come across Giulia ( Emma Berman ), a red-headed, independently minded tomboy with dreams of winning the Portorosso cup—a traditional Italian triathlon consisting of swimming, cycling, and eating pasta—and her one-armed, burly father Massimo ( Marco Barricelli ). In a bid to earn enough money to buy a Vespa, the boys pair with Giulia to win the cup away from the evil five-time champion Ercole Visconti ( Saverio Raimondo ) and his goons while an entire town lays a bounty for sea monsters on their heads.  

The most distinct current coursing through “Luca” is freedom: that’s certainly what the Vespa represents, the ability to be unrestricted not just by sea, but by land too. The other thread winding around the folklorish narrative, however, is identity, or the people who truly are behind our public faces. The villainous Ercole is initially and seemingly well-loved, as though ripped from an Italian magazine. We soon discover that his love, somewhat like Gaston in “Beauty and the Beast” (another Disney flick attuned to true identities) actually rules through intimidation. The measured eroding of his care-free, buoyant persona into the narrative's real monster is predictable yet satisfying. 

The premise of the film also literally disguises Luca and Alberto as humans amongst the fish hunting Portorosso community. But in a deeper sense, many secrets lurk within Alberto, from the whereabouts of his dad to his general knowledge. He portrays himself to Luca as a world-weary traveler, the kind of friend who swears they’ve been to a place a million times, but has only walked past it. He also tells the impressionable Luca how the stars are actually fish swimming in a vast black ocean, that school is unnecessary, and to ignore his “Bruno” (or the tiny scared voice inside your head). His outsized confidence papers over his clear insecurities, especially as Luca first grows closer to Giulia and later thinks for himself. 

Similar to Ercole’s unsurprising turn to villainy, Alberto’s bubbling insecurities imbue the film's second half with an air of fait accompli and drag the initial animated delight to the deep depths of boredom. Why do another narrative about a girl stuck in the middle of two best friends? Why cast Giulia’s rich arc, a competitive girl pitched as an outsider, to the back seat? Without exploring her narrative, the primary story flows through the motions. And the ending, meant to recover some of her spark, only serves to tether her importance to the two boys. That is, the guys win, but really, we all win.  

“Luca” certainly isn’t without its charms. A visual splendor of blue and orange lighting blankets over the seaside setting, giving the sense that if I were to merely hug the screen it would warm me for days. Minute bits also land, like the fish that make sheep sounds, and the hilarious ways Luca’s mother and father careen through the town trying to find their son, throwing random children in the water. And Dan Rohmer’s propulsive, waltzy score recalls the fairytale vibes he breathed in “ Beasts of the Southern Wild ” on tracks like “ Once There Was A Hushpuppy .” But “Luca” retreads too much well-cultivated ground and reworks so many achingly familiar tropes as its best qualities sink to a murky bottom. While some material may hit with younger audiences, “Luca” makes for Pixar’s least enchanting, least special film yet.    

Available on June 18 on Disney+. 

Robert Daniels

Robert Daniels is an Associate Editor at RogerEbert.com. Based in Chicago, he is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) and Critics Choice Association (CCA) and regularly contributes to the  New York Times ,  IndieWire , and  Screen Daily . He has covered film festivals ranging from Cannes to Sundance to Toronto. He has also written for the Criterion Collection, the  Los Angeles Times , and  Rolling Stone  about Black American pop culture and issues of representation.

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Luca (2021)

Rated PG for rude humor, language, some thematic elements and brief violence.

Jacob Tremblay as Luca Paguro (voice)

Jack Dylan Grazer as Alberto Scorfano (voice)

Emma Berman as Giulia Marcovaldo (voice)

Maya Rudolph as Daniela Paguro (voice)

Jim Gaffigan as Lorenzo Paguro (voice)

Marco Barricelli as Massimo Marcovaldo (voice)

Saverio Raimondo as Ercole Visconti (voice)

Sandy Martin as Grandma Paguro (voice)

• Enrico Casarosa
• Jesse Andrews

Cinematographer

• David Juan Bianchi
• Jason Hudak
• Catherine Apple

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Review: ‘Luca’ is Pixar, Italian style — and one of the studio’s loveliest movies in years

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The key theme of “Luca,” Pixar’s funny and enchanting new feature, is the acquisition of knowledge — and the realization of how liberating, if painful, that knowledge can be. The charming insight of this movie, directed by Enrico Casarosa from a script by Jesse Andrews and Mike Jones, is that nearly everyone has something to learn. Luca (Jacob Tremblay), a kid who finds himself in a strange new land, must master its mystifying rules and traditions to survive. He has an impetuous friend, Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), whose know-it-all swagger is something of a put-on: Like Luca, he’s lonely and adrift in a world that turns out to be bigger, scarier and more wondrous than either of them could have imagined.

For their part, the animators at Pixar have imagined that world with customary ingenuity and bright-hued splendor, which makes it something of a shame that most audiences will have to watch the movie on Disney+. (It’s playing an exclusive June 18-24 engagement at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.) The filmmakers’ most exquisite visual creation here is Portorosso, a fictional village on the Italian Riviera presumably not far from Genoa, Casarosa’s birth city, which inspired his 2011 Pixar short, “La Luna.” In the director’s hands, Portorosso plays host to a parade of well-worn but lovingly deployed cultural clichés. The townsfolk navigate the sloped, cobblestoned streets on bicycles and Vespas and enjoy a diet of gelato, pasta and seafood. And speaking of seafood: The fishermen who trawl the surrounding waters always do so with harpoons at the ready, lest they encounter one of the fearsome sea monsters rumored to dwell just offshore.

The movie confirms and debunks those rumors in the opening minutes, plunging beneath the surface and into a neighborhood of underwater dwellers whose webbed and scaly humanoid bodies might well seem fearsome at first glance. But within seconds of meeting Luca — whose natural curiosity spurs varying degrees of protectiveness from his worried mom (Maya Rudolph), absent-minded dad (Jim Gaffigan) and slyly antiauthorian grandma (Sandy Martin) — it’s clear that there’s nothing remotely monstrous about him or the mildly cloying, sometimes hilarious family sitcom he initially seems to be inhabiting.

Fortunately, “Luca” enters brighter, bolder territory at precisely the moment Luca himself does. In a scene that brings to mind Pinocchio experiencing his first moments of sentience or Ariel testing out her new legs, Luca swims to the surface and discovers a world of wonderment, including the wonderment of his own body. Outside his aquatic habitat, his scales, fins and tail magically vanish and he takes on human form. Every sea creature like him possesses these adaptive powers of disguise, including his new buddy, Alberto, who’s been living above the surface for a while and gives Luca a crash course on ambulatory movement, direct sunlight and other dry-land phenomena.

That makes “Luca” a fish-out-of-water comedy in the most literal sense, governed in the classic Pixar tradition by whimsical yet rigorously observed ground rules. A splash of water will temporarily restore Luca and Alberto (or parts of them) to their underwater forms — a shapeshifting conceit that allows for a lot of deftly timed, seamlessly visualized slapstick mischief. Early on, at least, the two friends have little to fear as they run around a deserted isle, basking in the sunshine and dreaming of future adventures on the open road. Only when their curiosity gets the better of them do they muster the courage to sneak into Portorosso, risking exposure and even death at the hands of locals who are more sea-fearing than seafaring.

Various farcical complications ensue, some of them cutely contrived but all of them deftly worked out, and enacted by a winning array of supporting players. These include a gruff but hospitable fisherman, Massimo (Marco Barricelli), and his plucky young daughter, Giulia (Emma Berman), who persuades Luca and Alberto to join her team in the local triathlon. That contest, whose events include swimming, biking and (of course) pasta eating, provides “Luca” with a conventionally sturdy narrative structure and an eminently hissable villain named Ercole (Saverio Raimondo).

Ercole’s last name is Visconti, one of countless movie allusions the filmmakers have tucked into the margins of the frame, most of which — the town’s sly nod to Hayao Miyazaki’s “Porco Rosso” aside — will prove catnip for lovers of Italian cinema in particular. There’s a boat named Gelsomina , a likeness of Marcello Mastroianni and a whole subplot devoted to fetishizing the Vespa, burnishing a vehicular-cinematic legacy that already includes “Roman Holiday” and “La Dolce Vita.” And those are just the explicit, deliberate references. When the trailer for “Luca” dropped months ago, more than a few wondered if Pixar had made a stealth PG-rated riff on “Call Me by Your Name,” Luca (!) Guadagnino’s drama about the pleasures of first love and the lush Italian countryside.

They have and they haven’t. Like most kid-centric studio animation, “Luca” has little time for romance and no room for sexuality. Luca and Alberto’s bond, though full of intense feeling and subject to darker undercurrents of jealousy and betrayal, is as platonic (if not quite as memorably cheeky) as the odd-couple pairings of Buzz and Woody, Marlin and Dory. And yet the specific implications of Luca and Alberto’s journey, which forces them to hide their true identities from a world that fears and condemns any kind of otherness, are as clear as water — too clear, really, even to be classified as subtext. “Luca” is about the thrill and the difficulty of living transparently — and the consolations that friendship, kindness and decency can provide against the forces of ignorance and violence.

Liberating oneself from those forces is a matter of individual and collective responsibility, and “Luca” is nuanced enough to understand that everyone shoulders that responsibility differently. Luca’s mom and dad, voiced by Rudolph and Gaffigan as lovably bumbling helicopter parents, must let go and loosen up, but their instinctive caution is hardly misplaced. Alberto’s stubborn devil-may-care attitude offers an admirable corrective, but that fearlessness is shown to mask a deeper sort of denial, an insularity that refuses to consider the full scope of the world’s possibilities. What makes Luca this story’s namesake hero is that he’s able to absorb the best of what his friends and family pour into him; though small and lean (and sometimes blue and green), he stands at the point where their best instincts and deepest desires converge.

By the same token, “Luca” the movie may look slight or modest compared with its more extravagant Pixar forebears; certainly it lacks the grand metaphysical ambitions of the Oscar-winning “Soul” (whose director, Pete Docter, is an executive producer here). But that may explain why it ultimately feels like the defter, more surefooted film, and one whose subtle depths and lingering emotions belie the diminished platform to which it’s essentially been relegated. “Luca” is big in all the ways that count; it’s the screens that got small.

Rated: PG, for rude humor, language, some thematic elements and brief violence Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes Playing: Starts June 18, El Capitan, Hollywood; also on Disney+

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Critic’s Pick

‘Luca’ Review: Calamari by Your Name

Pixar takes a trip to the Italian coast in this breezy, charming sea-monster story.

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By A.O. Scott

A lot of movies can be described as fish-out-of-water stories, but few quite as literally as “Luca.” The title character, voiced by Jacob Tremblay, is an aquatic creature who lives with his family off the Mediterranean coast of Italy. The undersea equivalent of a shepherd, tending an amusing flock of sheeplike fish, Luca has a natural curiosity that is piqued by his mother’s warnings about the dangers that await on dry land.

Like many a Disney protagonist before him — Ariel, Nemo and Moana all come to mind — he defies parental authority in the name of adventure. (His mom and dad are voiced, in perfect sitcom disharmony, by Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan.) According to the film’s fantastical version of marine biology, sea monsters turn human on terra firma, though their fins and gills re-emerge quickly on contact with water. Luca is a bit like a mermaid and a little like Pinocchio, a being with folkloric roots and a modern pop-culture-friendly personality.

On a rocky island near his home, he meets Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), a fellow changeling and a wild, parentless Huck Finn to Luca’s more cautious Tom Sawyer. After a season of idyllic, reckless antics, mostly spent building scooters out of scraps and wrecking them in the surf, the friends make their way to a nearby Ligurian fishing village, where more serious peril — and more complicated fun — awaits.

“Luca” was directed by Enrico Casarosa, whose warm, whimsical aesthetic also infused “La Luna” (2012), his Oscar-nominated short . Unlike some other recent Pixar features, this one aims to be charming rather than mind-blowing. Instead of philosophical and cinematic ambition, there is a diverting, somewhat familiar story about friendship, loyalty and competition set against a picturesque animated backdrop.

So not a masterpiece, in other words. But also not a pandering, obnoxious bit of throwaway family entertainment. The visual craft is lovely and subtle — the orange glow of Mediterranean sunsets; the narrow streets and craggy escarpments; the evocations of Italy and Italian movies. If you look closely, you’ll catch a glimpse of Marcello Mastroianni and Giulietta Masina. The friendship between Alberto and Luca, built around the fantasy of owning a Vespa and threatened by a desperate act of betrayal, carries a faint but detectable echo of “Shoeshine,” Vittorio De Sica’s neorealist fable about two Roman street urchins who dream of buying a horse.

That’s one of the saddest movies ever. “Luca” has a few notes of gentle melancholy, but it isn’t the kind of Pixar movie that will turn adult viewers into bawling, trembling wrecks. Luca and Alberto’s bond is complemented and complicated by Giulia (Emma Berman), a fellow misfit (though not a sea monster) who brings the boys home to her fisherman father (Marco Barricelli) and recruits them to become her teammates in the town’s annual triathlon. (The three legs of the contest are swimming, cycling and pasta eating. Viva l’Italia!)

Their nemesis is Ercole (Saverio Raimondo), a preening bully with two nasty sidekicks, who threatens Luca and Alberto with humiliation and, worse, exposure to the harpoons of the sea-monster-hating townsfolk. At the same time, Luca is increasingly drawn to Giulia and the human world she represents, which makes Alberto jealous.

But the movie is too busy with its many plots — and too enchanted by its summery, touristic mood — to linger over bad feelings or grim possibilities. It’s about the sometimes risky discovery of pleasure, and it’s a pleasure to discover.

Luca Rated PG. Harpoons and hurt feelings. Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes. Watch on Disney+ .

A.O. Scott is a critic at large and the co-chief film critic. He joined The Times in 2000 and has written for the Book Review and The New York Times Magazine. He is also the author of “Better Living Through Criticism.” More about A.O. Scott

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Sweet fish-out-of-water story about friendship, adventure.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Viewers will learn a bit about the deep, dark bott

It's easy to be scared of things you don't underst

Luca is curious, intelligent, kind, and empathetic

Central message is about accepting differences, in

Kids run away from home, go against rules, and put

Language is largely of the insult variety: "stinki

A Vespa scooter is central to the story and is pre

Parents need to know that Luca is Pixar's film about two sea creatures who leave their watery homes to discover the wonders of the surface in a small village on the Italian Riviera. It's a sweet coming-of-age story about courage, curiosity, empathy, perseverance, teamwork, and friendship—specifically, that of…

Educational Value

Viewers will learn a bit about the deep, dark bottom of the ocean, as well as gravity and different astronomical facts. Reading books and trying new things are encouraged as ways to learn about the world.

Positive Messages

It's easy to be scared of things you don't understand, but don't judge others based on their differences. You don't have to keep aspects of yourself hidden to be accepted—find those who love you for who you are. Curiosity, empathy, perseverance, and teamwork are great character strengths. It's important to have dreams and goals, as well as a plan to make them come true. Friendships and loyalty are important, as is making sacrifices for those you love. Be curious and learn as much as possible about the world.

Positive Role Models

Luca is curious, intelligent, kind, and empathetic. He wants to learn as much as he can about the surface and beyond. He lies to his parents and puts himself in dangerous situations but atones for his mistakes. Alberto is courageous, as well as a bit reckless, but he's loyal to Luca. He doesn't follow rules, but he doesn't have a parental figure to set any guidance, either. Giulia is clever and shows great perseverance. She also stands up for herself and others and isn't afraid to be herself, even if she doesn't fit in. The three work together as a team to overcome obstacles.

Diverse Representations

Central message is about accepting differences, in this case mostly between species. All human characters are White/Italian; movie is set on the Italian Riviera. Giulia's father, Massimo, is separated from her mother and shares custody. The arrangement is seen to be smooth and happy, and he's supportive and caring toward Giulia. Massimo is also a positive representation of limb difference, having been born with one arm. His character isn't defined by the difference, but by his great skill in fishing and cooking and his kindness toward the kids. Alberto's father isn't shown on-screen but is reported to have abandoned him, and Alberto often behaves recklessly and can feel intensely let down by others as a result. But the idea of chosen family and developing new family structures is shown when Alberto is taken in by Massimo. Giulia is a strong female character who's not restricted by gender stereotypes. She shows a thirst for adventure and has the courage to stand up for herself and her friends. That said, Italian stereotypes are used, particularly with the villain Ercole, who has slicked-back dark hair and a neatly clipped mustache, and arrogantly sits astride his Vespa, gesturing exuberantly and saying "Mamma Mia!"

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Kids run away from home, go against rules, and put themselves in dangerous situations. Physical comedy includes characters lightly hurting themselves as they jump off cliffs, fall off bicycles (with stars shown above head as though dizzy), and get attacked by a suspicious cat. Physical scuffles include pushing, punching, biting, and slapping. In one sequence, a villager repeatedly throws a spear at Alberto and Luca; others threaten them, and they're the target of mean behavior, with verbal bullying including words like "jerk" and "trash." Characters have heated arguments, raising their voices. A kid has to punch his uncle in the heart to get it started again, and his organs are seen through his skin briefly.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language is largely of the insult variety: "stinking," "stupido," "jerk," "idioti," "trash," "loser," "shut up," "pathetic," "what's wrong with you," and "bottom feeder," as well as the swearing stand-in "aw, sharks." The Italian word "mannaggia" is also used, meaning "damn." "Oh God," as an exclamation.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

A Vespa scooter is central to the story and is presented as very aspirational/glamorous. Like all Disney films, there's plenty of off-screen merchandise, including apparel, toys, games, and more.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Luca is Pixar's film about two sea creatures who leave their watery homes to discover the wonders of the surface in a small village on the Italian Riviera. It's a sweet coming-of-age story about courage, curiosity, empathy, perseverance, teamwork, and friendship—specifically, that of Luca (voiced by Jacob Tremblay ) and Alberto ( Jack Dylan Grazer ). There's a bit of silly body humor (nose- and ear-picking), as well as occasional insults in both English and easily understandable Italian, like "trash," "stupido," "idioti," and "jerk." Kids run away from home, lie to parents, and don't follow rules, putting themselves in dangerous situations. Physical comedy includes injuries from stunts like jumping off of cliffs and trees, riding a bike too fast down a hill, and getting in tussles. Scared villagers wield spears and harpoons, and one throws his at the main characters. Another character likes to use his big knife to chop up fish, much to Luca and Alberto's dismay. Parents and kids who watch together will be able to discuss the movie's appealing setting and its themes, particularly the importance of evaluating others for who they are, not because of their differences, background, or heritage. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

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Based on 62 parent reviews

First Pixar Disappointment

Teaches kids to lie and do dangerous stuff, what's the story.

LUCA takes place at the Italian seaside, where the titular character is the son in a family of sea creatures. Luca (voiced by Jacob Tremblay ) follows his parents' ( Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan ) rules not to go near the dangerous surface, until he comes across a stranger collecting treasures. Luca follows the boy, Alberto ( Jack Dylan Grazer ), to the shore, where they both transform into humans. Luca and Alberto become fast friends, sharing dreams and plans that involve what Alberto claims is the best prize among humans: the Vespa scooter. When Luca's family catches on that he's been hanging out above water, they threaten to send him to the depths of the ocean with his angler-fish Uncle Ugo ( Sacha Baron Cohen ). Frightened, Luca and Alberto run away to the nearest human town, Porto Rosso, where they meet outgoing Giulia ( Emma Berman ), who tells them that they could buy a Vespa with the cash prize from the town's annual race: a triathlon involving swimming, cycling, and eating pasta. The boys team up with Giulia—who's come in second several years in a row to an overconfident, rude villager named Ercole (Saverio Raimondo)—and move in with her and her intimidating fisherman father (Marco Barricelli). They must also do everything they can to keep from getting wet, lest the sea-monster-fearing villagers try to spear them.

Is It Any Good?

This heartfelt, gorgeously animated adventure is a short and sweet reminder of sun-filled summer days with new friends. The setting of Luca is so vivid that audiences may well want to book a flight to the Italian Riviera for some amazing pasta, clear seas, and the charm of winding cobblestone streets, marble fountains, and quirky townsfolk. Tremblay is a wonderfully expressive voice performer, making Luca's intellectual curiosity and general awe come to life. Grazer's Alberto is a confident and impetuous counterbalance to Luca's thoughtful and initially hesitant personality. Berman also impresses as Giulia, who really wants to win the race but is even more excited to make new friends. The supporting Italian cast is strong, as are Rudolph and Gaffigan, who at this point are almost default choices as funny parents. And audiences will laugh aloud at Baron Cohen's brief but hilarious role as Luca's uncle from the deep.

Luca 's themes are reminiscent of those in Finding Nemo and Finding Dory , The Little Mermaid , and even Onward . The boys turn into friends who are more like brothers, discovering both the joys and the dangers of the human world, and their adventure is filled with memorable views under the sea. Tender, sweet, and also funny, with silly physical comedy and an amusingly suspicious cat (Giulia's kitty looks just like her dad, right down to what looks like a mustache), the movie is full of warmth and has a few moments that tug at the heartstrings. It's also lovely to see a single father who belies his intimidating appearance by cooking delicious meals, teaching the boys the skills needed to fish, and supporting his daughter in her dream to compete in Porto Rosso's big annual race. Families with kids of all ages will enjoy this adorable addition to Pixar's excellent list of films.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Luca 's message about family and friendship. What does Luca learn about what makes a family? Kids: Who do you consider to be part of your family?

How do characters' actions demonstrate curiosity , empathy , teamwork , and perseverance ? Why are those important character strengths ?

Discuss how the movie portrays Giulia's father's limb difference. Does it impact his character? Why is it important to see people with disabilities represented in popular culture? Can you think of other examples?

Did you find any parts of the movie scary or upsetting? If so, why? What bothers you more: danger/action, or conflict between characters?

A central theme of the movie is difference and accepting others for who they are. Why is this an important message? What differences might it extend to in the real world?

Movie Details

• On DVD or streaming : June 18, 2021
• Cast : Jacob Tremblay , Jack Dylan Grazer , Emma Berman
• Director : Enrico Casarosa
• Studios : Pixar Animation Studios , Walt Disney Pictures
• Genre : Family and Kids
• Topics : Magic and Fantasy , Friendship
• Character Strengths : Curiosity , Empathy , Perseverance , Teamwork
• Run time : 95 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG
• MPAA explanation : rude humor, language, some thematic elements and brief violence
• Award : Common Sense Selection
• Last updated : May 18, 2024

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Pixar’s ‘luca’: film review.

An amphibious young sea creature spends a memorable summer on land in an Italian Riviera village in this coming-of-age story about friendship and acceptance, streaming on Disney+.

By David Rooney

David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

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Italian animator Enrico Casarosa, who was nominated for an Oscar for his 2011 Pixar short film La Luna , incorporates his enchantment with the moon and stars in different ways in his first feature, Luca . This captivating coming-of-age tale of a young male sea creature curious about life on dry land shares plot foundations with The Little Mermaid , Splash and Studio Ghibli’s Ponyo . But its Mediterranean flavor and disarming lessons about the value of friendship and acceptance provide fresh charms, while the breathtaking beauty of the film’s environments both underwater and above the surface brings additional rewards. It’s not canonical Pixar, but it’s as sweet and satisfying as artisanal gelato on a summer afternoon.

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Debuting on June 18 exclusively on Disney+ , the film forgoes the more conceptual musings of last year’s Soul to return closer to a boys’ adventure narrative like that feature’s immediate predecessor, Onward . But that fantasy quest, with its echoes of Dungeons & Dragons role-play games, got bogged down in frantic over-plotting, while Luca ’s comparative storybook simplicity, albeit with magical elements, should endear it to young audiences.

Release date : Friday, June 18 Cast : Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Saverio Raimondo, Maya Rudolph, Marco Barricelli, Jim Gaffigan, Peter Sohn, Lorenzo Crisci, Marina Massironi, Sandy Martin, Sacha Baron Cohen Director : Enrico Casarosa Screenwriters : Jesse Andrews, Mike Jones; story by Enrico Casarosa, Jesse Andrews, Simon Stephenson

Luca (voiced by Jacob Tremblay ) is a regular kid who just happens to have gills, a seahorse tail and a head of what looks like wavy coral. He lives with his family — caring but bossy mother Daniela ( Maya Rudolph ); more laid-back dad Lorenzo ( Jim Gaffigan ); and chill badass Grandma (Sandy Martin) — in the waters outside the fictional Italian Riviera fishing village Portorosso, where sea monsters hold a prominent place in local lore. In what seems a delightful nod from Casarosa to Finding Nemo , the opening shows Luca busy with his daily chores, herding a school of fish that bleat like sheep, and greeting other colorful members of the marine community. When Luca strays too far, his mother warns: “The curious fish gets caught.”

While the time frame is unspecified, the look of the village and the human characters’ clothing in Daniela Strijleva’s gorgeous production design clearly indicate the 1960s, as do the Italian pop hits of artists like Mina, Gianni Morandi and Rita Pavone, sprinkled in among Dan Romer’s gentle melodic score. A quick glimpse of a film still of Marcello Mastroianni also evokes the era.

When Luca starts finding objects lost from fishing boats — an alarm clock, a playing card, a gramophone — his eagerness to explore above the surface gets the better of him. His pluck is bolstered by a new friend, Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), whose experience with amphibious transitions between land and sea modes helps Luca through the bumpy initial stages of learning to walk upright. Alberto lives in the ruins of a stone tower that he has filled with found treasures.

The one that most captures Luca’s dreamer imagination is a metal sign proclaiming, “Vespa is freedom,” advertising the popular moped. That instant obsession yields one of a handful of lovely fantasy sequences, in which Luca and Alberto zoom through sun-kissed fields where wild Vespas frolic amid the yellow rapeseed flowers; from there, they fly up into the heavens where the stars are constellations of fish.

With such distractions keeping Luca above the surface and away from home, disciplinarian Daniela decides he needs to be sent to stay with creepy Uncle Ugo ( Sacha Baron Cohen in a funny cameo), a deep sea-dwelling translucent glow-fish, for the rest of the summer. But Luca rebels and runs off with Alberto to “the human town,” where the big challenge is to stay dry long enough to pass for real boys and keep their aquatic forms undetected. Rain is not their friend.

They have a hostile encounter with preening bully Ercole Visconti (Saverio Raimondo), who doesn’t appreciate outsiders but loves his gleaming red Vespa more than life itself. Ercole never tires of boasting of his repeat wins of the Portorosso Cup, an annual triathlon event comprising swimming, pasta consumption and a final bicycle leg. He’s also relentless in his mockery of Giulia (Emma Berman), a tomboy fisherman’s daughter who has continually failed in her attempts to beat Ercole and end his “reign of terror.” But when Luca and Alberto join her to form an underdog team, Giulia approaches the competition with new spirit.

The script by Jesse Andrews ( Me and Earl and the Dying Girl ) and Mike Jones ( Soul ), like all the best Pixar movies, laces touching life lessons and delicate helpings of sentiment into what’s essentially a caper. While Luca’s worried parents venture onto land to track down their runaway son, Giulia’s burly fisherman dad (Marco Barricelli) more or less adopts them after they prove unexpectedly savvy in finding the best spot to fish. This turns out to be emotionally uplifting for Alberto especially, who hides the hurt of abandonment beneath his chipper bravado.

Luca’s quaint sea-creature interpretation of the night sky prompts Giulia to introduce him to a telescope and her school textbook on the universe, which feeds his hunger for knowledge. The story’s outcome — when the boys’ inevitable exposure as feared and reviled sea monsters makes them vulnerable to Ercole’s harpoon — serves as a gratifying teaching moment for kids about being open to otherness rather than rejecting it based on old prejudices and superstitions. And Luca’s display of loyalty and courage fills his parents with a pride they perhaps have never before shown. The movie’s smattering of Italian language also provides welcome cultural exposure for young audiences.

The voice cast is solid down the line. Young actors Tremblay, Grazer and Berman make an engaging trio, capturing the giddy excitement of fast friendships in the preteen years; Rudolph and Gaffigan deploy their well-honed comedy chops with deft understatement; Martin makes a droll impression whenever she weighs in as a blowsy grandma with street-smart secrets; and Raimondo is suitably obnoxious as the arrogant showoff, begging for his comeuppance. Fans of Baron Cohen should hang around for his amusing reappearance in a post-credits sequence.

But the real magic of Luca is its visuals. The character designs are appealing both in the marine world and on land, and the richness of the settings in both realms is a constant source of pleasure. The play of light on the gloriously blue water’s surface is almost photorealistic at times, while a sunset spreading its orange glow over rocks on the shoreline makes you yearn to be there. Likewise, the town, with its terracotta walls absorbing the summertime heat, lines of crisp laundry strung between apartment buildings, people strolling and kids playing in the central piazza, and old women staking ownership of regular spots from which to survey the passing traffic. The lush green surrounding countryside provides yet more eye-popping splendor.

The distinctions separating a Pixar creation from a Disney animated feature seem to be blurring in cases like this, but Casarosa has a winning knack for folding the wonder of fairy tales into the joys of old-fashioned storytelling. The Genoa native’s obvious deep-rooted affection for life in simpler times on Italy’s northwest coast gives the movie a warming injection of real heart.

Full credits

Production company: Pixar Animation Studios Distribution: Disney+ Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Saverio Raimondo, Maya Rudolph, Marco Barricelli, Jim Gaffigan, Peter Sohn, Lorenzo Crisci, Marina Massironi, Sandy Martin, Sacha Baron Cohen Director: Enrico Casarosa Screenwriters: Jesse Andrews, Mike Jones; story by Enrico Casarosa, Jesse Andrews, Simon Stephenson Producer: Andrea Warren Executive producers: Pete Docter, Peter Sohn, Kiri Hart Directors of photography: David Juan Bianchi, Kim White Production designer: Daniela Strijleva Music: Dan Romer Editors: Catherine Apple, Jason Hudak Sound designer: Christopher Scarabosio Visual effects supervisor: David Ryu Animation supervisor: Michael Venturini Character supervisors: Beth Albright, Sajan Skaria Casting: Kevin Reher, Natalie Lyon

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Luca is a Pixar fable about sea monsters, friendship, and pasta

Now streaming on Disney+, it’s a tale about accepting others — and yourself.

by Alissa Wilkinson

Luca is probably the most summery movie that Pixar’s ever made — a light, gentle, sweet tale of a young boy and his best friend who go on an adventure in a tiny Italian town. (They’re also both sea monsters, but more on that later.) There is pasta and gelato, fountains and cycling, a mustache-twirling villain and starry night skies. It’s a tiny vacation with a healthy serving of imagination.

Director Enrico Casarosa says the look of his new film is inspired by everything from Renaissance maps — the kind haunted around the edges by scaly sea monsters — to Japanese woodcuts and his own childhood memories of summers in southern Italy. It has a softer, more hand-drawn feeling than some other Pixar offerings, almost as if it’s 2D in places, which gives the impression of timelessness.

Luca could take place this summer or a century ago. It’s a folk tale, or perhaps a fable. And just like those kinds of stories, there’s a buried wisdom within Luca that shifts a little depending on who’s looking at it, like the color of light refracting off a wave.

The story centers on Luca (voiced by Jacob Tremblay), a shy young sea monster who herds fish by day in a cove off the coast of the Italian Riviera. He lives with his mother Daniela (Maya Rudolph), father Lorenzo (Jim Gaffigan), and crotchety badass of a grandmother (Sandy Martin). Luca is a good kid. He watches over the fish, who are little bubbly airheads with the mannerisms of sheep, and stays away from the surface. According to his parents, it’s dangerous up there. Especially for sea monsters, who are not themselves dangerous to humans but are regarded as such and hunted with fearsome spears. Don’t go near the humans.

Yet, like the Little Mermaid before him, Luca is curious about what’s going on up above. And when he finds some random detritus scattered in his fishes’ grazing region — an alarm clock, a little picture, a wrench — he starts to daydream.

One day, another young sea monster named Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer) appears to retrieve some of the artifacts. He coaxes Luca up to land. Luca reluctantly follows, and discovers to his amazement that he’s more well-equipped to survive above water than he’d expected. Alberto and Luca are fast friends, bound together by their mutual love of Vespas and, eventually, a grand adventure they embark upon to a nearby village called Portorosso. They meet a girl named Giulia (Emma Berman), who lives with her fisherman father (Marco Barricelli) and her marshmallow-shaped cat named Machiavelli. She enlists their help in winning Portorosso’s annual race.

Luca and Alberto are constantly worried they’ll be found out as loathsome sea monsters, not “normal” boys. And so they’re always hiding their true identities.

In some ways, it’s the oldest plot in the book: Someone who is an outsider — a beast, a poor stepsister, a mermaid, a princess with a hidden power — must conceal their identity in order to avoid detection among “normal” people. The message is familiar, too, the oldest in the Disney canon: Don’t be afraid to be yourself, because nobody else can be you, and those who love you are the only ones who matter.

Luca ’s sun-drenched spin on the story locates it in a coming-of-age tale that’s also about overprotective parents (reminiscent of Finding Nemo ) and the importance of having a friend who can pull us out of our darkest moments. I thought a little of last year’s Wolfwalkers (a non-Disney film, and probably better for it), which resonates with some of the same themes.

Despite its many plot threads, Luca is not the most complex film, philosophically, that Pixar has served up, or its most well-thought-out. Characters develop without warning or much explanation, which could be irritating if you’re entranced by Luca ’s universe. Though it’s firmly rooted in an old-world Italian village, the evocation isn’t as luminous or all-encompassing as a film like Coco .

But Luca does make space for a prismatic variety of readings, a simple allegory with a few different applications. One it seems to allow, if not outright invite, is that it’s a little fable about quietly realizing a queer identity. Luca at first tells Alberto he’s a “good kid” and that “it’s bad up here.” A villain tells him that “everyone is afraid of you and disgusted by you.” Late in the film, we hear that he may never be accepted for who he is, but at least he’s learning to find people who will accept him anyway. (A quick reveal right at the end involving two elderly residents of Portorosso seems to underline the point.)

That’s not the only reading, probably because no matter who you are, you’ve probably lived through a time of feeling like the one on the outside who has to learn to blend in, to go undetected in order to save yourself. Being awkward, or artsy, or neurodivergent, or less well-off than your friends, or just not into whatever the in-crowd likes — that can feel dangerous and hazardous, especially to a child whose parents have warned them away from some other world. (There’s a special thanks in Luca ’s credits to the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding , an organization that fights religious prejudice, which gave me a whole new window into what the movie could be about.)

Does Luca follow those threads through to a meaningful ending? Not really. The film is more fairy tale than anything else; if a young viewer walks away with some affirmation of their feeling that they’re different, it won’t come with much guidance on how to cope with a society that still won’t accept them. Life rarely ties up so nicely. That’s always been a problem with Disney’s storytelling — easy answers and wishful thinking that could set up young audiences with expectations that the real world will never fulfill.

Still, what a work of art means to the audience depends on who’s looking at it. Luca has left all kinds of room for us each to walk around in its story. No matter how you read it, the film is a sparklingly rendered, inventive little comedy with nods to Italian films and Japanese art and a world that seems like it wandered out of a storybook and onto a screen. It’s a little summertime gift, a treasure from under the sea.

Luca premieres only on Disney+ on June 18.

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Luca Reviews

Although this is a Pixar film it is not a Pixar film.

Full Review | Aug 22, 2023

It was a small, sweet and enjoyable effort from Pixar, which has not only taught us that it's okay to be different from the rest but the importance of it.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 6, 2023

Different than anything PIXAR has done before story wise. Small in scale as A coming of age story that brings the messages of discovery & acceptance!

Full Review | Jul 26, 2023

From the detailed animation that makes the Italian coast look realistically astonishing to Dan Romer's rich score that hits all the right notes, without forgetting the outstanding voice work, every Pixar's trademark technical attribute is present.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jul 25, 2023

Pixar made another movie about friendship. But it’s also so much more than that: It’s about how to love life, how to ignore what other people might think of you, and how to accept each other regardless of what or who we really are.

Full Review | Jul 21, 2023

Even with Luca’s dynamic premise and grand visual splendor, it is not special. Perhaps Pixar’s magic is dimming slowly.

Full Review | Jul 20, 2023

It's beautiful seeing two kids just be authentically themselves and have fun with each other...

Full Review | Jul 19, 2023

Luca will be utterly endearing for kids but may be a bit hit and miss for everyone else.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jan 16, 2023

Luca is a charming film with a more relaxed Pixar style that’s made for the dreamers in all of us.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 9, 2022

Luca is Pixar at its most emotionally powerful, returning to the resonant storytelling that made the studio such a success to begin with and displaying some of its most arresting animation to date.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Sep 1, 2022

Luca conveys the feeling of that who goes to school for the first time and those who see that human-in-the-making going to school for the first time. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Jul 26, 2022

"Luca" is pure joy. It's lighter than most Pixar movies, but it's bursting with energy and life. "Luca" will have you smiling from ear to ear.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | May 20, 2022

LUCA may not have the wow factor of other Pixar films, but in its smaller, lighthearted story it is still so pure and loving that the emotions are really big again in the end.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Apr 8, 2022

A light, enjoyable movie that would look much better coming from any other studio. However, with the weight of history that comes with the Pixar name, many will be expecting more.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 2, 2022

It is a film that is both incredibly charming yet venomous in its emotions that can sneak up on the audience with their power and presence.

Full Review | Feb 22, 2022

Luca is an absolutely charming animated feature that takes audiences to an unforgettably touching trip to Italy.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Feb 16, 2022

Read on surfaces alone, Luca presents a familiar coming-of-age fable about friendship, albeit impeccably animated and confidently told.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 12, 2022

Luca very much wants to be among the big boys, but it cannot find a unique way to go about it.

Luca is a sweet and lighthearted delight that will bring you back to the days of summer vacation and childhood friendship.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 12, 2022

This sweet animation - firmly aimed towards the younger end of the market - is warm and nostalgic as its Fifties Italian setting implies.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 15, 2022

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Luca review: Pixar film is a sweet Italian passport

Luca (streaming on Disney+ today) is small-fry Pixar, a sunny Mediterranean trifle set in a postcard Italian village by the sea. But it's a winning one, too: the tenderhearted tale of a blue-gilled fish-boy who dreams of dry land, and all the things that human boys there get to do. (Ride Vespas, eat gelato, go to school.)

All his young life, Luca (voiced by Good Boys ' Jacob Tremblay ) has been taught by his wary parents (Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan) to fear the tail-less, two-legged beasts who live above the surface. But curiosity keeps pulling him toward the shore — and a bold fellow fish-boy named Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer) gladly drags him the rest of the way. Alberto is a classic Huck Finn type, a freckled swashbuckler and cheerful fount of misinformation. (What are those twinkling lights in the sky? Anchovies! How does gravity work? Walk off that cliff and find out!)

Both boys are entranced by motorbike ads torn from magazines, and soon their attempts to build their own lead them into the nearest town, where the preening local bully (Giacomo Gianniotti) scoffs at their desire to win the annual Portorosso Cup — an extremely Italian triathlon involving a swim race, a pasta-eating contest, and a bicycle route. But the pair find at least a temporary home when a scrappy little girl named Giulia (Emma Berman), who lives nearby with her kindly fisherman father, takes them both in as de facto foster brothers and fellow teammates in the race.

While the boys happily plunge into their new lives above the waterline, they also have to caution against getting wet: Every passing rainstorm or backsplash from a boat means exposing their true fishy nature to the townspeople — including Giulia's boulder-sized dad — who have learned to fear and loathe the sea monsters they've always suspected are lurking offshore, even if they've never found conclusive proof.

Luca's parents, too, won't let their son go lightly; they'll take human form to find him if they have to, and their plan is to send him down to the safety of his uncle (a great, way-too-brief Sacha Baron Cohen cameo) in the deepest trenches of the ocean, where's there's nothing to do but passively inhale whale carcass all day. If they can catch up to him before the race, there will be no Vespa, no land friends, no more learning about astronomy and cats and pesto.

That's truly about all there is to the plot, but Italian-born director Enrico Casarosa, a longtime staffer at Pixar, infuses every frame with a pure kind of love for his home country (he's pretty much the best tourism-board proxy since Luca Guadagnino exported Call Me By Your Name ). The story's bright swirl of Pixar pixie dust, jangle soundtrack, and gentle lessons on accepting otherness and learning to move past fear feel like a temporary passport: a sweetly soulful all-ages dip in la dolce vita. Grade: B+

Related content:

• Is Luca Pixar's Call Me by Your Name ? Director says it's not about that
• Pixar's Luca teaser trailer gives Jacob Tremblay a sun-soaked Italian summer with sea monsters
• Soul searching: Could Pixar's latest feature signal a new direction for the studio?

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Pixar’s new movie Luca is understated brilliance

It’s a sweet coming-of-age story, with sea monsters

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Pixar’s newest movie is a fantasy about sea monsters coming onto land, but it’s rooted in authentic childhood memories. Director Enrico Casarosa (who previously made the Pixar short La Luna ) based Luca on his own childhood summers, and the result is a movie that brings in fantastical elements, but also evokes specific emotions tied to coming-of-age stories.

Luca doesn’t explore big, existential emotions like the Pixar films that made the company an industry leader, but it captures the fleeting halcyon days of summer in a sweet, understated way. Casarosa subverts the typical Pixar formula, not just in the movie’s visual stylings , but also in the way he weaves in the emotions, using smaller story moments.

[ Ed. note: This review contains slight spoilers for Luca .]

Luca follows two young sea monsters. The titular Luca (Jacob Tremblay) is curious, yet timid. His burgeoning interest in the human world has been squashed by overprotective parents. Fearless Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), meanwhile, lives on land and encourages Luca to be more daring. The two run away to a human town, dreaming of buying a Vespa and seeing the world. With a chance to win enough money to buy their prized moped, the two join up with Giulia (Emma Berman), the fishmonger’s daughter, to compete in the annual Portorosso cup, a triathlon where instead of a running leg, competitors eat pasta.

In Luca , the magic is in the tiny details that flesh out the human world. The undersea setting is gorgeous, certainly, but the seaside town of Portorosso is what really shines. Through Luca and Alberto’s eyes, it makes sense that the human setting should be so lovingly augmented. All the little details — the laundry hanging between the streets, the uneven cobblestones, the posters on the walls — create a gorgeous rendition of the real world. It isn’t photorealistic, but it makes the town a little warmer, a little brighter, and a little more golden, almost like a rosy-tinged memory. The stylization bolsters this blissful summer shared by three friends.

Each of the characters has a very distinct design that’s more cartoonish than usual Pixar fare. With exaggerated expressions and movements, all of the characters (not just the kids) have a very deliberate physicality. There is a thought to them that extends to the voice acting, with the clear difference between the more hesitant Tremblay as Luca, who slowly gains confidence, and brash Grazer as Alberto, who gets in touch with his more vulnerable side. Particularly memorable, however, is Giulia’s father, a large stoic man with an impressive mustache (and a cat with similar facial markings), who isn’t particularly forthcoming, but eventually opens his heart up to these two misfit kids.

Luca ’s central plot is pretty straightforward, with the three kids competing in a race, while Luca and Alberto hide their identities. But that just allows the relationships between the characters to take center stage. What starts out as a simple friendship between Luca and Alberto grows into something more complicated when Giulia enters the picture. It isn’t a romantic quandary at all . Instead, Luca plays with the idea that anyone can have different emotionally satisfying relationships with different people, while acknowledging how hard that can be to accept.

Pixar is known for emotional movies, and at first glance, Luca seems like an outlier. It doesn’t operate like Soul or Inside Out , which each build up to a big emotional catharsis. Instead, that overwhelming Pixar emotion is of a different caliber, one that sinks in after the credits roll. The movie’s emotional arc isn’t defined by one or two big moments. Instead, the best bits are actually interspersed between the more archetypical climatic moments. From Luca and Alberto trying gelato for the first time to Luca and Giulia bonding over a telescope, the comparatively ordinary interactions weave together to create an evocative coming-of-age tale.

Luca ’s story is simple, but it works so beautifully. Much as Casarosa pushed the bounds of Pixar’s in-house style, he also played with the storytelling format that the studio has done time after time, to varying degrees of effectiveness. Luca isn’t trying to make people cry, the way some Pixar movies now feel obligated to do, but it still rings as a bittersweet experience. Instead of a tearjerker, it’s a fond memory, a soft sigh after a recollection of a time gone by.

Luca is available on June 18 on Disney Plus for all users.

Luca on Disney Plus

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Summary Set in a beautiful seaside town on the Italian Riviera, Luca is a coming-of-age story about one young boy experiencing an unforgettable summer filled with gelato, pasta and endless scooter rides. Luca shares these adventures with his newfound best friend, but all the fun is threatened by a deeply-held secret: they are sea monsters from a ... Read More

Directed By : Enrico Casarosa

Written By : Enrico Casarosa, Jesse Andrews, Simon Stephenson, Mike Jones, Julie Lynn, Randall Green

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Jacob Tremblay

Luca paguro, jack dylan grazer, alberto scorfano, emma berman, giulia marcovaldo, saverio raimondo, ercole visconti, maya rudolph, daniela paguro, marco barricelli, massimo marcovaldo, jim gaffigan, lorenzo paguro, lorenzo crisci, marina massironi, signora marsigliese, gino la monica, tommaso (old fisherman), sandy martin, grandma paguro, giacomo gianniotti, giacomo (young fisherman), elisa gabrielli, concetta aragosta, mimi maynard, pinuccia aragosta, sacha baron cohen, francesca fanti, maggiore (cop), jonathan nichols-navarro, enrico casarosa, card player, angry fisherman, mr. branzino, critic reviews.

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Luca review – gentle Pixar tale packed to the gills with charm

An unlikely friendship between two shape-shifting boys explores the joys and tribulations of not fitting in

T he latest from Pixar , and the feature directing debut of Enrico Casarosa, Luca is a gentle pleasure about friendship and not quite fitting in. Luca, voiced by Room ’s Jacob Tremblay, is a sea monster who longs to explore the world beyond the reef. He knows that once on land he will assume human form, but good kids like Luca don’t break the rules.

Then he meets Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), an adolescent sea monster-turned-boy who has made a life on land. There’s kinship here with Finding Nemo and with Studio Ghibli’s Ponyo , both in the marine setting and in the fact that it plays to the younger end of the audience spectrum. But while Luca might lack some of the dizzying inventiveness that marks out top-tier Pixar, it’s packed to the gills with charm.

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Luca review: pixar's animation brings a lot of heart & adventure to its story.

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Pixar's  Luca joins Soul in heading straight to streaming on Disney+. Unlike Cruella , Mulan , and Raya and the Last Dragon , which all got the Premier Access option, the latest Pixar animation will be available to stream without an additional fee. Luca, directed by Enrico Casarosa from a screenplay by Jesse Andrews and Mike Jones, is heartwarming, beautifully told, and would have been well worth seeing on the big screen. With Luca , Pixar recaptures a lot of the magic and heart that its animations are known for while providing a lovely, heartwarming character journey. 

Luca Paguro (Jacob Tremblay) is a sea creature who can transform into a human when on land. In the sea, he spends his days tending to a school of fish like a shepherd while often growing bored from the daily monotony. Luca’s overprotective mother, Daniela (Maya Rudolph), is adamant about her son staying in the ocean; she knows that humans fear them and their first instinct is to kill what they perceive as dangerous sea monsters. However, when Luca meets Alberto Scorfano (Jack Dylan Grazer), he’s introduced to a whole new world. Wanting to avoid being sent away to the deeper end of the ocean, Luca and Alberto head to the local town of Portorosso where they meet Giulia (Emma Berman) and join her in the competition in a bid to win a vespa and leave the sea behind for good.  

Related:  Pixar's Luca Interview: Daniela Strijleva

The film, similar to Finding Nemo , explores the parent-child relationship between Luca and his mother, whose claims of wanting to protect her son don’t hide the fact that it’s her own fear that prevents her from letting Luca go. The film does a great job of showing how parental fear, along with the anxiety of being out in the world, can affect children growing up. The audience sees as much with Luca’s hesitancy about coming to the surface and, later, when he holds back from riding a bike down a trail with Alberto. It’s through Luca’s own growth and realizations that he is able to find a balance between his gripping fear and simply being cautious, which makes for a multilayered and emotionally moving story that is rooted in friendship. 

Luca and his mother’s fears are juxtaposed to the fear the townspeople feel about the sea monsters; they’re quick to grab their spears and get all riled up for no reason. Fear can warp perception, keeping people guarded, and it is something Luca works to unravel at every turn, especially as it sees the world through the eyes of its titular character who doesn’t fully understand what all the fuss is about. Luca also captures the immense joy of being out in the world and getting to explore new things. Luca, Alberto, and Giulia make a great trio and their adventures are full of optimism and wide-eyed excitement that will resonate with younger and adult members of the audience. 

The film is set on the Italian Riviera and its characters get to speak a few words and phrases in Italian, which is also a lovely reminder of the culture and language the film is showcasing in Portorosso rather than have it be a nameless, blank town. Luca dreams of not only being on land, but of learning new things and gaining knowledge born of curiosity. That the animation explores his desire for expanding his mind is lovely and pivotal to his character development. Luca’s overprotective, yet very loving parents, are also a stark contrast to Alberto’s lack of parental guidance. The main characters’ personalities and behaviors differ because of this, and Luca handles both narratives with warmth and an abundance of heart.

While there are certain aspects of the film’s story that could have been expanded upon and a somewhat frustrating antagonist in Ercole Visconti (Saverio Raimondo), who is much older than the core trio to be as petty as he is about a competition, Luca is a wonderful coming of age story with a nice message that balances deep emotions and a lot of adventurous fun. 

Next:  Pixar's Luca Interview: Enrico Casarosa And Andrea Warren

Luca is available to stream on Disney+ on Friday, June 18. The film is 95 minutes long and is rated PG for rude humor, language, some thematic elements and brief violence. 

Let us know what you thought of the film in the comments!

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Luca movie review: Drift away with Pixar's sun-drenched Disney Plus daydream

Available on Disney Plus and available to rent and buy in August, this sunny coming-of-age tale is the vacation you've been missing.

Feel the sun on your face in Luca.

Luca is streaming now on  Disney Plus , but think hard before you press play: The last thing anybody needs in these troubled times is a new Pixar movie. Yes, they're heartwarming fables, but are you feeling strong enough for a devastating emotional punch like the opening scenes of Up or the climax of Toy Story 3? 

Fortunately, Pixar's buoyant new flick is one of the studio's gentler outings. Luca is a breezy tale of a mythical sea creature exploring the sun-dappled loveliness of the Mediterranean coastline, gifting us with a heady reminder of summers past. It's an ode to childhood friendships that also offers a potential glimpse of post-COVID freedom to once again venture out on carefree sun-drenched holidays (or at least imagine them).

Luca was released June 18, and unlike some other blockbusters will remain on Disney Plus permanently rather than disappearing after 30 days. If you're not a Disney Plus subscriber, it's available to rent or buy digitally and on Blu-ray and DVD on Aug. 3. 

Young Luca is an iridescent undersea fish-herder living with his parents beneath the tranquil turquoise waves of an island feared by local fishermen. This young sea monster is intrigued by the flotsam and jetsam of the surface world but terrified by the "land monsters" his mom and dad warn him about.

Luckily the pearlescent sea-dwellers transform into human form when they're on dry land, which means nervous Luca and his braver chum Alberto find themselves exploring the Italian Riviera of the 1950s. Obsessed with Vespa scooters, they become entangled with a local bully and a spirited new friend as they set out to win a traditional local race. But they'd better not get wet, because the slightest splash morphs them back into shimmering green sea creatures. It's like The Shape of Water on vacation with The Talented Mr Ripley, filtered through a childhood memory.

The opening 10 minutes gently introduce this colorful world and show Luca's place within it, but without any of the calamitous emotional stakes that often shake things up in Pixar films. There are nearly 25 minutes of Luca and a new buddy goofing around before anything actually happens, as the film eases you in with gorgeous sun-dappled animation and charming comedy rather than nailing you to your seat like the devastating opening scenes of Finding Nemo or Up.

Life's always better down where it's wetter, take it from me...

That may or may not be influenced by the times in which Luca was made. Not only was the film's release disrupted by the pandemic -- it's skipped theaters for a release date on Disney's streaming service -- but so was the production process. Pixar animators and filmmakers made it almost entirely from their homes over the past year, with voice actors recorded on their iPads from living rooms across the world (including Italy). 

Luca is infectiously voiced by Jacob Tremblay from the films Room and Doctor Sleep , palling around with a bad influence voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer from It and Shazam . Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan play the parents, although they don't have much to do except some light worrying and scolding. The low-stakes storyline is breezy rather than captivating, although that does mean even a relatively light twist lands hard because it's so unexpected. Of course it's all building to a spectacular finale complete with a heartwarming emotional catharsis.

Life's always better when you've made a Vespa.

While the story may be relatively emotionally unchallenging, the winning characters and alluring setting entice you into a pleasant reverie. The film plays out in a tranquil haze of sun-dappled pastoral pastels and Italian bops (from the jaunty likes of Mina and Quartetto Cetra ). Occasionally things melt into psychedelic daydreams like the colored rainbows on the backs of your eyes when you close your eyes against the sun.

Genoa-born storyboard artist and director Enrico Casarosa helms the film with obvious love for the locale, having previously directed similar short film La Luna, which was attached to Brave in 2012. To add to the Mediterranean flavor, the end credits thank the estate of Italian film legend Marcello Mastroianni . Could there be anything more summer-ready than a Disney movie inspired by vintage Italian cinema? Fellini meets The Little Mermaid. Just call it Finding Antonioni.

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The pastoral pastels and dreamy vintage feel give Luca a cozy feel of its own. If you squint, however, you can detect more timeless and delightful influences: a touch of Wes Anderson's vibrant palette, a splash of Studio Ghibli 's achingly gorgeous coming-of-age storytelling, and a doughy thumbprint of Aardman chunkiness to the character design. And of course, it's drizzled with the life-affirming whimsy that unites all those influences.

Luca may be a light confection, but the scenic and nostalgic daydreaming is delicately seasoned with delightful slapstick and memorably oddball details. Look out for the weirdo fish-uncle from the deep dark depths voiced by Sacha Baron Cohen, or the negative voice in your head being called Bruno. Expect to hear "Silenzio, Bruno!" in the playground this summer. 

Luca is a swooning shot of summer sun in animated form, and perfect for lazing round remembering better days.

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Pixar’s Luca Is a Literal Fish-Out-of-Water Fantasy Intent on Saying Something

Portorosso, the fictional setting of the new Pixar movie, Luca, is a bright daydream of Italy. Cobblestoned streets wind their way up hills; residents pepper their speech with ejaculations like “ Santa Mozzarella! ”; and each year the kids compete in a triathlon of swimming, cycling, and pasta eating. The pastoral charm doesn’t stop at the shoreline. Underwater, sea monsters live in a community that’s just as quaint, herding sheeplike fish and cultivating rows of kelp. They keep out of sight of the “land monsters,” who have an alarming habit of hoisting harpoons and decorating their plaza with images of fishermen defeating oceanic menaces. But how could anything dark happen in an animated world so mild?

When Luca (Jacob Tremblay), the movie’s young sea-monster protagonist, first gets yanked out onto the sand by his friend Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), the moment thrums only with a sense of undefinable possibility. Alberto looks on, unimpressed, while Luca sputters and gasps and transforms into a human boy as the water dries off his body. “First time?” Alberto asks. “Of course it is!” Luca retorts. “I’m a good kid!”

When Luca — which was directed by Enrico Casarosa (of the short La Luna ) and written by Jesse Andrews and Mike Jones — was announced, the internet was quick to call out parallels between this film and Call Me by Your Name. Although no one would expect to get anything like the peach scene in a PG-rated Pixar movie, Luca does seem to deliberately invite comparison with director Luca Guadagnino’s romance, right down to a protagonist who shares his first name. Like Call Me by Your Name, Luca is the story of two boys taking a journey into the intoxicatingly forbidden during a summer in Northern Italy. It also involves a lot of frolicking around in shorts, riding scooters, and expressing jealousy when one of the pair starts spending more time with Giulia (Emma Berman), the spunky local girl Alberto and Luca join up with for the big race. That those boys happen to be sea monsters who revert to their scaly form whenever they touch liquid doesn’t discount the undercurrents.

Luca is not, ultimately, a love story. But it is a story that’s explicitly about otherness and self-discovery. The symbolism lends itself to interpretations of queerness, or as an allegory of assimilation. Alberto and Luca run away to live in Portorosso after Luca’s loving but overprotective parents (Maya Rudolph and Jim Gaffigan) attempt to send him to live with his deep-sea-dwelling Uncle Ugo (Sacha Baron Cohen). The kids have to pass in a community they expect would react with hostility if they were ever perceived as they wholly are. Alberto harbors a fantasy of perpetual escape in which he and Luca will use the prize money from the race to buy a Vespa and go on a never-ending road trip, while Luca, to Alberto’s dismay, starts to wonder if there’s a place where he can learn from and live among the humans — even though there are some, like town bully Ercole Visconti (Saverio Raimondo), who wear their intolerance proudly. “What happens when she sees you? When anyone sees you?” Alberto demands when Luca starts talking about following Giulia to school.

Luca is so intent on meaning something that it only ever halfway inhabits the delightfully colorful world it lays out. We never get a deeper understanding of the history between the sea monsters and the humans beyond some hints that there has been far more interaction than Luca was raised to believe. We never find out why Luca’s mother thinks the world is so dangerous; the narrative just needs her to be paranoid, and so she is. Alberto’s wayward dad remains an offscreen squiggle, a means of bolstering the surrogate-parent relationship Alberto begins to develop with Giulia’s father, a stern but kind fisherman whose bushy eyebrows are identical to his bushy mustache. Luca falls in love with astronomy after Giulia shows him the heavens through a telescope, but his burgeoning desire to study exists in contrast to nothing in particular, because there’s no sense of what future would have been available to him had he stayed underwater.

One of the side effects of children’s films becoming more progressive, aware, and careful is that they can lose some of the dimensionality they had before, when they were awash with subtext that didn’t always feel coherent or intended. Luca collects artifacts from the world above — much like a certain Disney mermaid with whom he shares a corporate umbrella — while never encountering anyone as defiantly memorable as Ursula, a villain based on the drag queen Divine. The film would rather evoke Guadagnino and Hayao Miyazaki, especially the latter’s Porco Rosso ; the 1992 movie is an obvious touch point. But Luca doesn’t have the lived-in texture of a Studio Ghibli production, either, that palpable sense of a universe extending beyond each animated frame. What it does have are some groovy Italian pop songs and a setting as pleasant as a summer afternoon. The light glimmers off the surface of the ocean without any worry of going too deep.

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Luca Review

There is a superb character in Luca : a deranged, bulbous, cheerful creature from the darkest depths of the ocean, with a mania for rotting fish-flesh and a peculiar speech pattern. “If you leave the mouth open, the whale carcass go in,” this see-through abomination, Uncle Ugo ( Sacha Baron Cohen ), enthuses of his favourite pastime. “It’s good. I recommend it.” Ugo is hilarious, and eccentric, and unexpected. Unfortunately, he’s only on screen for a fleeting few minutes, and in his absence those three qualities are somewhat lacking. Pixar ’s latest is amiable and as bright as a scoop of gelato, easy to like in the moment. But like gelato it also feels a little disposable, short of the spectacle, emotional power and big laughs we’ve come to expect from the studio.

Where The Little Mermaid saw the tuna-y teen give up her tail in order to be with her human love, Luca has a somewhat different twist on the formula. In it, the titular red-eyed, slithery sea monster (voiced by Jacob Tremblay — also, incidentally, in the upcoming reboot of The Little Mermaid ) heads to the surface, upon discovering that he takes on the appearance of a human upon becoming dry, in order to pursue his passion for Vespas. Yes, Vespas, the Italian motorised scooter immortalised by the poster for Roman Holiday and, to a lesser extent, Larry Crowne .

What stops the film short of greatness is a pervading generic quality.

Luca and his new pal Alberto ( Jack Dylan Grazer ) are obsessed by the things, chattering about them, drawing them and even making their own DIY version. And it is refreshing, at least at first, to have the plot pootle along like, well, an Italian motorised scooter, driven by two kids’ sun-baked daydreams. There’s no big villain and no grand quest, despite the movie establishing a race of guppy-ish, fish-herding aquatic beings and a nightmarish-sounding oceanic abyss (never seen on screen). Instead, it’s all about pasta-eating (linguine-animation techniques have come on in leaps and bounds) and beach-based bonding, as the two pretend-humans make friends with a local girl (Emma Berman).

There is quite a bit to like. Brought to life in pastel colours, the town of Portorosso (a nod to Studio Ghibli classic Porco Rosso ) is charming and cosy, like a memory of a holiday you went on when you were eight. There are some pleasing character designs, like the hulking, one-armed fisherman with a belt stuffed full of stabbing implements, or his cat, Machiavelli, both of whom rock impressive moustaches. The odd fantasy sequence, meanwhile, draws winningly on Italian pop-culture and history: a bit with Da Vinci’s flying machine is like Hudson Hawk , but good.

What stops the film short of greatness is a pervading generic quality, particularly disappointing given the filmmakers have cited Fellini and Visconti as influences. Several characters yak in American accents, despite their Italian names. The fish monsters (Ugo aside) lack detail and personality. And while kids might spend the end credits trying to persuade their parents to buy them Vespas, there’s just not that much for grown-ups to latch onto. The big race sequence, when it arrives, has zips and twists in store, but the movie as a whole is oddly sleepy, rolling along pleasantly rather than blazing a trail.

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• Action/Adventure , Animation , Comedy , Drama , Kids , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• March 22, 2024
• Jacob Tremblay as Luca Paguro; Jack Dylan Grazer as Alberto Scorfano; Emma Berman as Giulia Marcovaldo; Marco Barricelli as Massimo Marcovaldo; Saverio Raimondo as Ercole Visconti; Maya Rudolph as Daniela Paguro; Jim Gaffigan as Lorenzo Paguro; Sandy Martin as Grandma Paguro; Giacomo Gianniotti as Giacomo; Marina Massironi as Mrs. Marsigliese; Sacha Baron Cohen as Uncle Ugo

Home Release Date

• June 18, 2021
• Enrico Casarosa

Distributor

Movie review.

There’s something human-y about Luca Paguro.

Oh, sure, there’s something fishy about him, too. But that only stands to reason, given his scales and fins and whatnot. Where Luca comes from—somewhere in the briny deep near Italy—that’s positively normal. While his father raises competition show crabs and his mother frets, Luca shepherds the family’s flock of fish. (Which would make him a fisherd , I guess.) And even though the Paguro family can venture onto dry land—rumor has it that Grandma used to hit the town on weekends—why would they? It’s populated by monsters, by gum, monsters who’d want nothing more than to skewer creatures like them and hang them up above the fireplace.

But while Luca’s terrified of the land and those who dwell there (as his mother says he should be), he’s curiously drawn to it, too.

As well he should be.

So says Luca’s new friend, Alberto. He’s a little older than Luca, and yeah, he came from the sea himself. But Alberto lives all by his lonesome on dry land, and he considers himself “kind of an expert” on the whole terra firma thing. When he yanks Luca out of the water, he knows full well the kid’s going to change into a human form—just like he did. And he knows that human form can take a little getting used to, what with the whole clothes and air and walking thing and all.

“Walking is just like swimming,” Alberto lectures. “But without fins. Or a tail. And also there’s no water. Otherwise, it’s like the exact same thing.”

Clearly, Alberto knows everything about everything, and Luca idolizes him. But after a few days up top and one late night getting home, Luca discovers his worried mom and dad waiting up for him—along with Uncle Ugo, the family’s toothy, see-through relative from deeper waters. Apparently, Uncle Ugo is there to take Luca to the deep, black, sunlight-deprived sea, about which he paints a less-than-exciting picture.

 “There’s nothing to see anyway,” Ugo says. “Or do. It’s just you and your thoughts—and all the whale carcass you can eat.”

Luca loves his mom and dad. But he sure doesn’t want to go with Uncle Ugo. He’s enchanted with the land above—its sunshine and gravity and, most especially, its motorized scooters. And so—encouraged and accompanied by Alberto—Luca runs away, away to the human town of Portorosso, filled with dry cobblestoned streets and colorful buildings and fish-eating residents. Residents who all seem to own several harpoons. Residents who’ve heard about some sea monster sightings and are on high alert for anything that might be the least bit sea-monsterish.

The two new human boys in their midst certainly look normal enough—as long as they don’t get wet. But any little bit of water brings out their true natures, dip by dip, drip by drip. Luca and Alberto sure better hope it never rains.

Positive Elements

“Silencio, Bruno!”

So Alberto and Luca shout when they feel their fears and doubts getting in the way of their grand plans. And there’s some merit to getting Bruno to be quiet. Luca is a coming-of-age story, and to grow up demands that you take some chances. People who always live in fear and doubt—who always worry what might happen—wind up living pretty small, disappointing lives. Can you imagine what the Christian Church would look like if the Apostle Paul listened to his own version of Bruno?

Still, it’s important to distinguish the real voices of warning in your head from the voice of Bruno, and that’s not always easy. The movie does at least make a feint in that direction. When Alberto and Luca barrel down a very steep hill on a not-very-safe bike, Luca expresses, shall we say, concern.

“That’s Bruno talking!” Alberto shouts.

“No, I’m pretty sure that’s just me!” Luca says. And turns out, Luca’s right.

Luca also learns (as if he didn’t know already) that his parents really just want him to be safe and happy. And even though Luca envies Alberto’s apparently parent-free life at first, he eventually realizes that he’s the lucky one.

In Portorosso, they meet a new friend, Giulia, who also has a protective father—a burly, fearsome fisherman who never let his own missing arm slow him down. And while he seems deeply interested in hunting down any sea monsters he comes across, the depth of love he has for his daughter, and the kindness he shows to strangers, is rarely in doubt.

One more word: Luca is, in some ways, a nearly literal “fish-out-of-water story,” in which Luca, Alberto and even the very human Giulia often feel like outsiders. But together, these “under-the-dog” kids push against the town’s bullies and work together to compete in a local race.

Spiritual Elements

We see a local cleric at times, though he’s typically not engaged in any real priestly duty. Giulia has a habit of “cursing,” under her breath when Luca or Antonio get a bit exasperating. But she actually combines the Italian word for saint with foodstuffs. For instance, she might exclaim something like, “Santo Gorgonzola!”

A card that Luca finds features a picture of a prince or knight holding a cup. It’s likely a reference to Italian playing cards (which, in the southern part of the country, have suits of swords, cups, coins and clubs). But it could conceivably be a reference to a tarot card called the Knight of Cups, which can be a symbol for purity, friendship and romantic quests.

Sexual Content

In Luca’s first few transformations into a human, he appears shirtless with sort of a grass wrap around his middle. (Luca’s parents, when they come to town to find him, initially transform into the same sorts of get-ups that sport a bit of animated skin.) We learn that Giulia’s parents are together anymore; it’s unclear whether they are now divorced or if they perhaps weren’t married in the first place.

It’s rare we point out something that isn’t in the movie, but this seems worth a note: Some observers have opined that Luca is essentially an LGBTQ fable. They thought they saw Luca and Alberto’s transformation as a metaphor for being gay, and their close relationship something of a budding romance (name-checking, in fact, director Luca Guadagnimo’s Call Me by Your Name as a comparison point).

That interpretation isn’t borne out in the movie itself, where Luca and Alberto are just great childhood friends. And Luca director Enrico Casarosa rejects the comparison out of hand. “I love [the director’s] movies and he’s such a talent,” Cararosa told Yahoo! Entertainment , “but it truly goes without saying that we really willfully went for a prepubescent story … this is all about platonic friendships.”

Violent Content

The movie’s villain is a bully by the name of Ercole Visconti who means to do much more than snap towels at his enemies (and sometimes his friends). He punches someone smack in the gut, knocks people off their bikes and threatens plenty of people (and other things) with serious injury—sometimes brandishing a spear or harpoon. (Luca uses a spear of his own to get Enrico to back off from one of his friends though, too.)

Enrico even demands one of his two acolytes to repeatedly slap the other. And when one of Ercole’s “friends” dives underneath Ercole’s precious Vespa to prevent it from hitting the ground, Ercole is far more concerned with his scooter than his injured pal underneath.

The whole town of Portorosso would seem, visibly at least, to harbor deep antipathy for denizens of the deep. Carvings adorn old buildings around the square, depicting brave fishermen killing fearsome sea monsters. Giulia’s father thwacks the head off many a fish. Townsmen guard a harbor from sea monsters by holding and displaying many a horrific barbed instrument of fish capture.

Luca, Alberto and Giulia all are subject to slapstick violence throughout the film. (We won’t catalog all of that content, but as an example, both Luca and Alberto demonstrate gravity by leaping off the top of a ruined tower, tumbling through the branches of a nearby tree and landing in a heap at the tree’s base.) They also really like to ride either bikes or homemade “Vespas” down very dangerous inclines and off ramps, sometimes leading to injury or, in one case, nearly to death. (Luca kicks apart their fragile homemade scooter in mid-air—sending himself and Alberto into the water below rather than landing on the rock that had been directly underneath them.)

Giulia’s cat—named Machiavelli—learns Luca’s and Alberto’s secret early on, and he attacks them at least twice before they learn to mollify him with fish. (Luca and Alberto both bear scratches on their faces after one such attack.) Luca’s parents—trying to find Luca in a town full of normal humans—start throwing kids into fountains and pelting them with water balloons. A physical fight breaks out between two characters.

Crude or Profane Language

None, but the film does include a few winks toward profanity. For instance, Luca’s mother exclaims, “Ehhh, sharks” as an s-word stand-in. Luca himself utters a “holy carp” at one point.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Giulia’s dad seems to drink wine for dinner one evening.

Other Negative Elements

Luca’s coming-of-age quest kicks off with a massive bit of disobedience. It begins when Luca runs off from his fisherding duties (leaving a stone replica of himself to fool the fish, and even his mother at a distance), but it culminates in Luca just running away—hoping that he and Alberto can buy a real Vespa and travel the world, barely giving his parents a second thought. You could argue that Luca’s parents even reward him at the end for his disobedience … or you could say that Mom and Dad just realized that they’d made some mistakes of their own and were doing their best to correct for them.

Obviously, Alberto and Luca lie pretty much to every human they meet for a while. Their first jabs at conversation with people go seriously awry. (Their greeting ends with the word “stupido,” which causes a couple of old women to hit them both with their purses.) They have atrocious table manners at first, having no clue how to use a fork. We hear that last year, during an important annual tournament (that includes eating a plate full of pasta), Giulia vomited.

Luca’s parents steal clothes to blend in. A couple of characters each do something hurtful to the other. We hear that Luca’s grandma not only went into town, but played cards there, too. She lies once to keep Luca out of trouble, and she seems to passively approve of his disobedience. Alberto picks his nose in one scene.

In a Disney+ missive, Luca director Enrico Casarosa says that he drew from his own life to make this movie.

“My best friend Alberto was a bit of a troublemaker, [while] I was very timid and had a bit of a sheltered life—we couldn’t have been more different,” Casarosa said. “We were also a bit of ‘outsiders,’ so it felt right to use sea monsters to express the idea that we felt a little different and not cool as kids. Alberto pushed me out of my comfort zone, and pushed me off many cliffs, metaphorically and not. I probably would not be here if I didn’t learn to chase my dreams from him.”

It’s in that relationship that we find both the core beauty of Luca —and its core reason for caution.

Outside some slapstick animated violence and a couple of winking asides to bad language, Luca has very few content problems to navigate. No, it’s not quite as squeaky clean as Pixar’s best movies— Toy Story and Finding Nemo come to mind—but when we point out some minor worries here and there, we’re really picking at undersea nits. And while this is a movie meant for kids (and is thus not quite as emotionally or philosophically rich for adults as some Disney/Pixar films) Pixar still knows how to craft a great, resonant story. It might just nurse out a tear or two from even jaded moms and dads.

But as real and as beautiful and as true as the friendship between Luca and Alberto can feel—and as important as sometimes those imperfect friendships can be in our development—we can’t escape another truth: Alberto’s kind of a bad influence. Luca knows it. His parents certainly discover it. And while Alberto comes to life as a fully formed, three-dimensional character who could really, really use a father figure, I do think it’s worth pumping the bicycle brakes on the movie for just a moment here.

In the real world, a metaphorical Luca might be just what a metaphorical Alberto needs to turn his life around. But just as easily, Alberto could help lead Luca to a childhood filled with detention.

Luca , the film, makes a passing reference to Pinocchio , and it seems fitting. In Disney’s classic 1940 version, the story of Pinocchio becomes a wall-to-wall cautionary fable about keeping the right sort of company. When Pinocchio falls in with a ne’er-do-well named Lampwick—who, like Alberto, is just a little too cool for school—the two are nearly turned into donkeys. (Pinocchio escapes, but just barely. Lampwick isn’t so lucky.)

Luca is, in some ways, the flip side of Pinocchio. His story illustrates how a little bit of trouble can lead to growth, and how the wrong sort of company can turn out all right in the end. It’s a more generous movie, one that emphasizes grace and compassion over Pinocchio’s stern lectures.

But sometimes as parents, it can be hard to tell just what story your kid is in.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Luca movie review: Pixar’s latest is an emotional story about friendship and acceptance

Luca movie review: directed by enrico casarosa, this pixar film is not just a looker, it is also a funny, entertaining, and deeply emotional story about friendship and acceptance..

Luca cast: Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Marco Barricelli, Saverio Raimondo, Maya Rudolph, and Jim Gaffigan. Luca director: Enrico Casarosa Luca rating: 4.5 stars

Pixar’s Luca tells a coming-of-age fantasy story set in the picture-perfect summer paradise that is Portorosso, a small town along the Italian Riviera. Directed by Enrico Casarosa, a storyboard artist who makes his debut with the film, Luca is not just a looker, it is also a funny, entertaining, and deeply emotional story about friendship and acceptance.

The titular Luca is a sea monster who lives in the depths of the sea with his parents and grandmother. He has always dreamt of exploring the world above the surface, fascinated by motorboats gliding on the water. His mother’s warning about what humans would do if they saw his true form, however, keeps him reluctant.

For most humans in Luca, sea monsters are a myth, limited to children’s storybooks, but some believe they do exist and bring out their pitchforks, metaphorical or literal, at the mere mention of them.

When not in contact with water, they can disguise themselves as humans, but even a single splash of water is enough to blow their cover.

An apprehensive Luca is dragged to the coast of an abandoned island by his vivacious new friend Alberto, a sea monster who has been stealing objects from passing boats. He teaches Luca the fundamentals of human life, like walking, gravity and the almighty Vespa, which he claims can take a person anywhere they wish to go.

Alberto, in a sharp contrast to introverted, hesitant Luca, is fearless, even a little reckless, and is never afraid to try out new stuff. The two bond over their interest in human objects.

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After a few failed attempts to ride on a Vespa made out of scrap, the two friends decide to swim to Portorosso to acquire the real thing. They befriend a girl called Giulia and decide to take part in a race that will win them money, which, in turn, can be used to buy the Vespa that they desperately want.

Pixar movies have explored complex themes in a way that is lucid enough for little ones. Luca continues this glorious tradition. It is a celebration of childhood friendships, but also tackles the theme of acceptance of the ‘other’. While the film makes it clear that the bond between Luca and Alberto is platonic, their relationship and the horrified reaction by humans to their true appearance can be interpreted as echoing the experiences of the LGBTQ community. The story is open to multiple interpretations — sea monsters can serve as the metaphor for any marginalised group.

Luca is not the best Pixar movie ever made, but it does come close. The themes and even a few plot elements may seem familiar, but the film is good-looking and has enough substance that it hardly matters.

The characters are endearingly written. The friendship at the centre of the film, between Luca, Alberto and Giulia, is loveable, sweet and feels organic. The starry voice-cast, with names like Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Marco Barricelli, Saverio Raimondo, Maya Rudolph, and Jim Gaffigan, does not disappoint either.

But the true star of Luca is the visuals. The imagery in Luca is not skin deep. The almost outrageous attention to detail that is common to each Pixar movie is very much present here, and can be appreciated only during a second viewing. With the stunning landscapes with vivid blue water, the sun-soaked town and its paved streets, the vibrancy that pervades everything, and gently rolling hills in the backdrop, Luca is one of the most beautiful films you will see this year. There is also a painterly, textured look to some of the scenery that is certainly a deliberate artistic decision, and it blends well with rest of the aesthetic.

Luca is a continual delight, a film that will make you feel warm, fuzzy and wanting for more. The film’s length of 96 minutes — considerable for a Pixar feature, mind you — feels transitory, because you want this vicarious visit to coastal Italy to go on and on.

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THE MOVIE CULTURE

Luca Movie Review & Summary: A Pleasant Little Tale Of Friendship

Luca is a coming of age Pixar Animated Movie. It revolves around a boy trying to explore the world with his friend Alberto by his side. 

Luca Movie Plot

Luca revolves around a sea creature who yearns to explore the world of land after having spent the better part of his childhood in sea. However the creatures on land aren’t particularly fond of these “Sea Monsters”. So when he wanders into this world, he is in for a world of adventure. 

Luca Movie Cast 

• Jacob Tremblay as Luca
• Jack Dylan Grazer as Alberto 
• Emma Berman as Giulia

Luca Movie Review

Luca is all kinds of fun, indeed. While I have been wanting them to really dig into the lore aspects of animation and churn something super original like Coco, Luca is still a worthy contender which tickles your emotions and makes you smile.

As I have said before, Animated movies have sort of fallen into the formulaic aspect of it all, and yes, Luca feels formulaic and the same old story progression or Disney and Pixar movies have been relying upon for all these years, but again, it works and majorly appeals to the audience that it targets (including me), so who am I to say anything. Luca is a world inhabited by Sea Monsters and Humans, so the dynamic of fear is mutual and each one of them is afraid that the other one’s going to hunt them.

Luca (Voiced by Jacob Tremblay) has spent his early childhood beneath the seas and like any other person who has never explored the world, he is curious, enthusiastic and yearning to go into the light of the sun and ride on a Vespa. This yearning for Vespa actually comes from one of the sea scavenger he meets while chasing a gramophone.

Alberto (Voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer) is an experienced land animal, by that I mean, he has no problem going in and out of water anytime he feels like, and he even has a house on a broken tower on the land. So this friendship nurtures as they wander on land in search of adventures and, more importantly, a shining Vespa. A Vespa which could transport them to any part of this world and let them explore each and every nook and corner, without anyone keeping them in a cage.

Luca Movie: Simple Yet Effective 

Luca has very booklike animation if that makes any sense, its somewhat detailed but in order to bring the magical beauty out of the seaside of Italian Riviera, it presents the waters and the sun in their most basic and pure forms. The scope for world-building isn’t the priority in this setting and it doesn’t need to go to extreme details in its animation like Coco needed.

With its simplistic story, it prioritizes a friendship and their relationship and the tropical waters of Italy look unbelievably pleasant. They basically transported me into a little vacation of my own, behind my Laptop. I know, that’s just sad. But yeah, the animation is subtle and without trying too many new things, concepts and themes, it elevates the beauty of the world. 

The friendship between Luca and Alberto is the main focus of the plot and it’s pretty amazing how both the voice actors do a tremendous job in bringing out the emotions. For Luca, he has always been scared. The whole plot has milestones which he needs to achieve, like getting out of the water, making friends, going into the feared “People Town”.

Alberto on the other hand, is a complete contrast of Luca. He never second guesses anything that he does, no matter how ridiculously wild or dangerous it is. He lets the nature judge the consequences for him. And this heartwarming blend of Caring too much and Not Caring at all, gives birth to this amazing friendship.

Both of them have their own sorrows and as we move ahead we discover certain depths of these protagonists, and they ultimately revolt that flame of an undying friendship. And yes, it makes one emotional to the core, because every good Animated movie has to make you cry now. It has become a rule for the studios, but one thing I can be sure about is that those tears are more often than not, always of Joy. 

The world, despite all of it’s beauty does fall a bit shallow perhaps. The characters are nice and the main antagonist, is nothing but a goofy bully who thinks everyone loves him. But leaving that aside, it becomes really Linear and straightforward, especially when the same concept and progression has been repeatedly used in so many movies now. After all these years and all this time of watching these movies, linear progressions are hardly surprising anymore. They don’t make you go, ‘Ha!’ in excitement and giddy optimism and that is also a testament of somewhat weak worldbuilding that movies like Pixar’s Luca, fall prey to.

The climax was a tear jerker but it also felt like the circumstances were forcing it to be one. There were some farewells which felt like they were there just to get the audience a bit more teary eyed. Luca could have had an ending where there aren’t any particular farewells and frankly, I would have been alright with that, but forcing a weird scenario just to separate people isn’t the best way to go about it in my opinion.

Maybe the writers could have crafted a better reason or maybe they should have just left. But coming back to what I said, it isn’t a good animated movie if it doesn’t make you cry. 

Luca is gorgeous and the relationship of Luca and Alberto triumphs in this ride. It does nothing new, but for both, the audience which is accustomed to Pixar Movies and the audience whose first animated movie is going to be Luca, there is a lot to like in it for everyone. It’s more than worth it to experience it for the light hearted, sweet natured flick it is, and even when my heart craves for something deeper, I had an absolute blast watching Luca. 

Luca Movie Critical Reception 

Luca stands at 89% on Rotten Tomatoes with the Consensus being, “Slight but suffused with infectious joy, the beguiling Luca proves Pixar can play it safe while still charming audiences of all ages.” It has a Metascore of 71.

The Movie Culture Synopsis

Luca is Pixar going light and hearty at the same time. It is sure to bring a smile on your face and you witness this heartwarming friendship unfold. It isn’t anything out of the ordinary though, for the better or the worse.

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Challengers Refuses To Be Knocked Out at the Global Box Office Despite Digital Release

• The digital release of Challengers hasn't hindered its theatrical success, with a cumulative gross of $78 million globally.
• The film earned positive reviews, an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and is director Luca Guadagnino's most successful film.
• Challengers has revitalized mid-budget studio movies, signaling a return to investing in this type of film.

A digital release will rarely impact a movie’s theatrical momentum, especially if it's already doing well. This trend has been observed recently with films such as Dune: Part Two , Kung Fu Panda 4 and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire . We can add a new title to that list now. Amazon MGM’s Challengers landed on digital last week , but reported its softest drop yet at the domestic box office while also nearing a massive milestone globally. Released less than a month ago, the romantic sports drama has quietly continued a resurgence for mid-budget studio movies along with Civil War .

With $43 million domestically and another $35 million from overseas markets, Challengers ’ cumulative worldwide gross stands at $78 million . The movie debuted at the number one spot domestically, generating $15 million in its first weekend and cementing Zendaya ’s box office pull following the global success of Dune: Part Two . Also starring Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist , Challengers was given a major promotional push by Amazon, and was released internationally by Warner Bros.

Unlike previous Amazon movies such as Saltburn , and The Boys in the Boat , which didn’t get much of an overseas release at all, Challengers played far and wide. It also avoided the fate of fellow Amazon titles such as The Idea of You , Ricky Stanicky and Road House , all of which debuted directly on the Prime Video streaming platform. The film’s hefty $55 million budget might sound like a lot for what is essentially a three-hander set in and around tennis courts, but its success signals a return to form for exactly the kind of movies that studios had stopped investing in.

'Challengers' Was Originally Slated for a 2023 Release

Challengers follows the intersecting lives of three tennis professionals — Zendaya plays a coach while O’Connor and Faist star as warring players — across a decade. The movie debuted to excellent reviews, and appears to have settled at an 88% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes . It also earned a B+ CinemaScore, and has a 73% audience rating on RT. In his review , Collider’s Ross Bonaime described it as “one of the twistiest, most compelling, and nonstop horniest films of Guadagnino’s career.”

Challengers is by far director Luca Guadagnino ’s most successful film, generating over $35 million more at the global box office than his previous biggest hit, Call Me By Your Name . Guadagnino’s direction was praised, as was the film’s tense, non-linear editing, and his use of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross ’ thumping background score . You can watch Challengers at home and in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

Challengers

Follows three players who knew each other when they were teenagers as they compete in a tennis tournament to be the world-famous grand slam winner, and reignite old rivalries on and off the court.

Release Date April 26, 2024

Director Luca Guadagnino

Cast Mike Faist, Zendaya, Josh O'Connor

Watch on Prime Video