While friendship lies at the heart of nearly every Pixar movie -- be it the enemies-to-buddies pairing of Woody and Buzz or the platonic coupling of Marlin and Dory -- Luca tells a story specifically about the connections made in adolescence that formatively shape who someone becomes. Directed by Enrico Casarosa, the studio's latest feature film is an enchanting tale that fits comfortably within the Pixar brand, yet brings its fanciful setting to life with a feeling of wonder and whimsy that's been lacking from some of the animation giant's more recent titles.
Luca Paguro (Jacob Tremblay) is a young sea monster who lives beneath the ocean near the Italian Riviera and spends his days herding goatfish with his protective mother Daniela (Maya Rudolph), preoccupied father Lorenzo (Jim Gaffigan) and rascally grandmother (Sandy Martin). Although his parents encourage Luca to avoid the surface world, fearing that he'll be killed by a harpoon-wielding land-dweller, his curiosity is piqued when he stumbles upon a variety of human items collected by Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), a free-spirited teenage sea monster who, quite literally, pulls Luca into a whole new world above and encourages him to go exploring.
As with Scuttle in Disney's The Little Mermaid, Alberto has some amusing misconceptions about the human world -- referring to a gramophone as the Magic Singing Lady Machine and telling Luca the night sky is full of fish. He's particularly entranced by the idea of owning a Vespa. When Luca spots an advertisement for the world-famous Italian scooter, Alberto calls it the greatest thing ever made by humans. "Vespa is freedom," whispers an awestruck Luca, kicking off several marvelous sequences that dive into his imagination. These emotion-fueled moments are also where the movie succeeds in paying homage to the work of Federico Fellini, whom Casarosa (Pixar's 2011 short La Luna) has cited as a major influence for Luca.
When Luca's parents discover he's been above sea level, he flees with Alberto to Portorosso, a nearby coastal town with a long history of fearing sea monsters. Fortunately, sea monsters look like humans when they're not wet, allowing the pair to disguise themselves as two odd but otherwise regular human boys. After befriending a rambunctious Italian girl named Giulia Marcovaldo (Emma Berman), the three form a team to compete in a local swimming, eating and bicycling contest. If they win the competition, it will provide them with the money needed to buy a Vespa -- and, in their minds, freedom. However, Ercole Visconti (Saverio Raimondo), a Vespa-owning bully and repeating winner of the Portorosso Cup, stands in their way.
With its entitled, wealthy antagonist, coming-of-age themes and a plot that revolves around a bicycling race, Luca sometimes resembles the Pixar-fied version of the 1979 Oscar-winning classic Breaking Away -- a film also centered on an outsider who's taken with Italian culture. Unlike that movie, though, Casarosa and screenwriters Jesse Andrews (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) and Mike Jones (Soul) focus less on class differences and more on telling a story about feeling different and the importance of finding others who understand you. Thanks to Giulia's father Massimo (Marco Barricelli), a broad-chested fisherman born with one arm whose tattooed appearance is complimented by his loving nature, the film subtly extends its inclusive message to those living with disabilities as well.
Luca, as with most Pixar movies, is gorgeously animated, combining gently stylized humans with splendidly realistic environments. It's never explained why the sea monsters have Italian names yet speak with American accents, but it's easy to overlook minor world-building flaws when the film's actual world is so beautiful to behold. The soundtrack's blend of popular 20th-century Italian pop songs and Dan Romer's pleasantly romantic orchestral score further sweep you away into Luca's story, which appears to be set in the 1950s or '60s but ultimately lands on a timeless vibe.
There is a sense that Luca could've been more daring, either by moving away from the Pixar formula or exploring a queer romance between Luca and Alberto. While many have compared the film to Call Me By Your Name based on its marketing, Casarosa said that Luca takes place in a "pre-puberty world" and was inspired by his real-life childhood friendships. For better or worse, that also prevents the movie from bringing another layer of meaning to its sea monster metaphor, especially when it comes to Alberto and his not-so-happy backstory.
To its credit, though, Luca neither engages in any queerbaiting nor hints at its three young leads having romantic feelings for one another. Audiences deserve to see a full-length Pixar film featuring a loving queer couple front and center, but in the end, that's not the story Casarosa and his collaborators set out to tell. Thankfully, the one they did make is a joyful, heartwarming experience in its own right.
Directed by Enrico Casarosa, Luca stars Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Maya Rudolph, Marco Barricelli and Jim Gaffigan. The film arrives on Disney+ Friday, June 18.