👽 Elio (2025) in Dolby Atmos: A Sonic Journey To Space

Jon Garcia
Jun 26
3 min read

Updated: Jul 23

Rating: 3 out of 5 Bags 💰💰💰

Written by Jonathan Garcia

Tears, Sunlight, and Space Dust

Leaving the theater, blinded by the 100° sun, sweat, and tears potentially in my eyes.. (watch it for yourself). I felt like I was stepping back onto the planet after a full galactic adventure with the leader of Earth. This is Pixar’s latest animated journey powered by family, identity, connection, and cosmic bonds.

Created by the dream team of Adrian Molina, Domee Shi, and Madeline Sharafian, Elio is colorful, heartfelt, and undeniably imaginative. Visually, it’s stunning. Narratively, it’s universal. It’s one of those films that makes kids dream bigger and reminds adults they used to.

Fair warning: I’ll be talking about specific scenes, so if you haven’t seen it yet — read at your own pace. And if you have? I’d love to hear your experience. Now… let’s talk Dolby!

🎧 Atmos Impressions: Loud and Lopsided?

First things first, this is a LOUD film. The moment the Pixar logo hit, I had a gut feeling about how the Dolby Atmos mix would unfold. And unfortunately, I was mostly right.

This mix leaned hard toward the front. Everything felt like it was pushing forward. A wall of sound that stayed consistent from start to finish. Not harsh, painful or bright… just high SPL and not a lot of dynamic breath. It gave that “mixed through a limiter” kind of squish feeling in the theater. The use of LFE was tasteful and effective, from warp speed and overlords to running through the woods and thunderstorms.

That said, it wasn’t a bad experience! It felt more like an enhanced 5.1 than a full Atmos immersive canvas. But the beauty of Atmos is in the details, and Elio definitely had amazing moments where the format shined!

🌌 Favorite Atmos Moments

The Voyager Gold Record scene: When Elio first discovers it, the space opens up and you start to float too. You get immersed in the hope this gold record gives.
The Alien Beam: This one will levitate you. Perfect use of panning and LFE to launch you out of your seat.
The Warship and Prince introductions: Big, dramatic, and well-placed across the height field. Felt like classic space opera done right.
The “push back to Earth” portal scene: Clean, wide, and emotional. One of the best transitions in the film.
The Shapeshifter & Storm scenes: LFE rumble, swirling surrounds, directional chaos, being in the storm inside the theater!!

Throughout the film, dialog was mostly center as it should be, but there was plenty of movement around. The alien communication sequences were especially fun. The panning and detail of the sound effects throughout the film float, shift, and teleport you during the scenes this galactic ear candy is present. At points you find yourself in a beautiful immersive soundscape when you least expect it.

🎼 Score, Sound Design & Sonic Texture

Composer Rob Simonsen brought a lush, emotional energy to the soundtrack. His work supported the films tone- beautifully airy, mysterious, and hopeful. It helped keep you emotionally tethered even when the Atmos mix felt a bit boxed in.

Shoutout to the Atmos mixers and post team. Experiencing the film you can tell there was still a lot of care and detail in the sound design and placement of elements and music in the immersive realm and mix. It’s always easy to criticize from the outside, but I’ve been in those rooms. Sometimes loud and safe is exactly what the director wants and hears in their vision for the film.

🐛 Unexpected Standouts

Let’s talk about that worm. Didn’t think I’d be emotionally invested in a worm-like creature, but here we are. The character design and performances were strong across the board. The “Master of Ham” moment? EPIC, hilarious, and genuinely immersive. You have to watch and hear for yourself!!

Final Thoughts

Elio is a beautiful film. Vibrant, emotional, family oriented, and deeply human despite being set in the stars. The Dolby Atmos experience was good, not great. Very front-heavy. Flat in dynamics. And while that holds it back from a 4- or 5-Bag rating in my book, it doesn’t take away from the many brilliant moments when the mix really came alive and immerses you!

Still worth seeing in Atmos. Still worth seeing, period.

Final Rating:

💰💰💰 — 3 out of 5 Bags

Would I take the journey again? Absolutely.

Would I remix the Atmos if given the chance? Oh yeah. And I’d go way deeper into space.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments 👇🏽And stay tuned for more immersive takes from The Family.