elemental movie reviews imdb

At its best, Pixar is unbeatable, making clever, charming, and brightly original films to touch the heart and spark the imagination. And so it's been dispiriting to see the animation studio behind such emotive triumphs as " Toy Story ," " Ratatouille ," " Up ," and " Inside Out "—among the best films of their respective years, bar none—recently fall short of its past standard of excellence. 

It's not just that modern-day Pixar has focused on reprising its greatest hits with a parade of sequels (" Toy Story 4 ," " Incredibles 2 ," " Lightyear "), or that the studio's slate of recent originals (" Soul ," " Luca ," " Turning Red ") have all, oddly enough, centered on characters transforming into animals (a revealing trope for its prevalence in films about feeling different, whose initially diverse protagonists invariably spend most of the runtime covered in fur or scales). Also absent lately at Pixar, a subsidiary of Disney since 2006, is the mastery of execution that had distinguished the studio, a brilliance for establishing high-concept premises and effortlessly navigating their particulars. 

"Elemental," Disney and Pixar's latest, feels emblematic of the studio's struggle to recapture its original magic, making a mess of its world-building in service of a conventional story that fails the talent of the animators involved. Set in a world where natural elements—earth, fire, water, air—coexist in a New York-style metropolis, each representing different social classes, the film—directed by Peter Sohn , from a screenplay by John Hoberh, Kat Likkel , and Brenda Hsueh —aims high with that central metaphor but is set immediately off-balance by its unwieldiness as racial allegory, an issue compounded by haphazard pacing and writing so flatly predictable it suggests a Pixar film authored by an AI algorithm. At times bordering on the nonsensical, the film feels under-developed rather than universal, a colorful missed opportunity. 

Presented as the closing-night selection of the 76th Cannes Film Festival, ahead of its stateside release in mid-June, "Elemental" envisions a densely populated urban sprawl similar to that of Disney's anthrozoomorphic " Zootopia ," in which ideas of racial discrimination were uneasily reduced to "predator and prey" dynamics to allow for a story that focused more on dismantling personal prejudices than systemic racism. In Element City, a similarly ill-advised simplification is at work (though Sohn has explained that his Korean heritage and desire to make a film about assimilation fueled some of the creative decisions), and there's even a similar eyebrow to raise with regard to the legitimate danger that these contrasting elements, like foxes to rabbits, pose to one another. 

In "Elemental," socially privileged water people flow back and forth through slickly designed high-rises and have no issue splashing down the city's grand canals and monorails, which were designed for their gelatinous-blob bods, whereas fire folk are sequestered to Firetown, where their tight-knit community reflects East Asian, Middle Eastern, and European traditions—and accents run the gamut from Italian to Jamaican, Iranian, and West Indian, in a way that uncomfortably positions fire as representative as all immigrants and water as representative of the white upper-class. Earth and air, meanwhile, barely register; we see earth people who sprout daisies from their dirt-brown armpits, and cotton candy-esque cloud puffs playing "airball" in Cyclone Stadium, but the film is surprisingly non-committal in imagining the chemistry of inner-city elements interacting. Background sight gags abound, such as the "hot logs" that fire folk chow down on, but the actual ins and outs of Element City are explored only superficially, such as the revelation that all these elements take advantage of the same public transit. Replete with computer-generated inhabitants and generic modernist structures, its milieu feels more like concept art, to be further detailed at some point in the animation process, than a fully thought-through, lived-in environment.

"Elemental" centers on hot-tempered Ember Lumen ( Leah Lewis , of " The Half of It "), a second-generation immigrant who works as an assistant in her father's bodega shop. Fire people who emigrated from Fireland, from whence they brought spicy food and rigid cultural traditions of honor and lineage, Ember and her father Útrí dár ì Bùrdì ( Ronnie del Carmen )—though he and his wife Fâsh ì Síddèr ( Shila Ommi ) had their names Anglicized to Bernie and Cinder at the "Elemental" equivalent of Ellis Island—have a close relationship as he readies her to take over the family business. Ember, though, is questioning whether or not she truly wants to inherit the store, as her beloved "ashfa" says he expects, or whether her gifts—such as the ability to heat a hot-air balloon and mold glass with her hands—might lead her in another direction. 

Unable to control her emotions, which can take her from red-hot into a more ominous purple shade, Ember one day ruptures a pipe in her father's shop, at which point city inspector Wade ( Mamoudou Athie ) gushes in. Wade's been investigating the city's dilapidated canal system, searching for the source of a leak that keeps flooding Ember's basement but imperils all of Firetown. Determined to keep her father's business from going under, Ember pursues and then quickly joins forces with Wade. As romance sparks between the two, they make for a particularly odd couple given one of the film's less-than-convincing rules: that "elements don't mix," for reasons both practical and parochial, in Element City. Ember might extinguish Wade, while he could douse her flame, but their inevitably steamy romance is moreso forbidden because her father would never approve, setting up "Elemental" as an interracial love story, the kind Pixar hasn't yet told with human characters.

From there, the film works like a checklist of Pixar storytelling clichés, its two opposites at first getting on one another's last nerve but gradually forming a close bond, before separating over what amounts to a basic misunderstanding, which is resolved in climactic fashion as the two rescue one another from a looming threat and rekindle their love. Still, as the plot's frantically paced chain reaction of events keeps Ember and Wade together, their relationship becomes the film's slight but endearing center, a welcome respite from the mixed metaphors and misshapen conceptual mechanics that often threaten to break the story's inner reality. (Why, for example, is what will happen if Ember and Wade touch such a mystery to them both, in a city whose ceramic and terracotta glass structures point to other elements interacting?) 

Lewis voices Ember with a playful warmth that nicely complements the bubbling affability that Athie brings to Wade, while the animation of both their bodies—hers flickering then suddenly ablaze with emotion, heat wafting upward; his fluid and transparent, prone to collapsing into a puddle on the ground—is always exciting to look at, emphasizing malleability and dabbling in abstraction. 

But even the film's promising use of color, form, and movement feels hemmed in by the unimaginative storytelling. Only a few standout sequences—a visit to an underwater garden of Vivisteria flowers, a detour into hand-drawn animation that tells a love story in minimal, swirling lines—separate "Elemental" from any other Pixar film in which the characters are phosphorescent little blobs traveling through realistically animated cityscapes, and as rapidly as the film progresses it never goes anywhere unexpected. 

There's similarly nothing in "Elemental" to recall the wondrous aesthetic imagination of modern Pixar classics like " Finding Nemo " and " Wall-E ," with the exception of a rich score by composer Thomas Newman that takes its cues from a potpourri of global musical traditions and presents a more fully formed vision of cross-cultural exchange than the film's muddled depiction of immigrant communities. Perhaps fittingly for a film that would have more accurately been titled "When Fire Met Water…," "Elemental" is combustible enough from minute to minute, but it evaporates from memory the second you leave the theater.

This review was filed from the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. "Elemental" is now playing in theaters.

Isaac Feldberg

Isaac Feldberg is an entertainment journalist currently based in Chicago, who’s been writing professionally for nine years and hopes to stay at it for a few more.

• Leah Lewis as Ember Lumen (voice)
• Mamoudou Athie as Wade Ripple (voice)
• Ronnie del Carmen as Bernie Lumen (voice)
• Shila Ommi as Cinder Lumen (voice)
• Wendi McLendon-Covey as Gale (voice)
• Catherine O'Hara as Brook Ripple (voice)
• Mason Wertheimer as Clod (voice)
• Ronobir Lahiri as Harold (voice)
• Wilma Bonet as Flarrietta (voice)
• Joe Pera as Fern (voice)
• Matthew Yang King as Alan / Lutz / Earth Pruner (voice)
• Clara Lin Ding as Little Kid Ember (voice)
• Reagan To as Big Kid Ember (voice)

Writer (story)

• Brenda Hsueh
• John Hoberg

Cinematographer

• David Juan Bianchi
• Jean-Claude Kalache
• Stephen Schaffer
• Thomas Newman

Leave a comment

Now playing.

Night Is Not Eternal

All We Imagine as Light

Elton John: Never Too Late

The Creep Tapes

Small Things Like These

Bird (2024)

Meanwhile on Earth

Christmas Eve in Miller's Point

Stockholm Bloodbath

Latest articles.

“Life is Strange: Double Exposure” Resurrects Beloved Franchise

Black Harvest Film Festival 2024: Black Table, Rising Up at Night, The Weekend, Jimmy

Lost Souls: Bringing Out the Dead at 25

Nicole Kidman Joins Honorees at Palm Springs International Film Festival

The best movie reviews, in your inbox.

Advertisement

Supported by

Critic’s Pick

‘Elemental’ Review: Sparks Fly

The latest movie from Disney/Pixar tucks a romantic comedy inside a high-concept premise. It’s smoldering and splashy.

• Share full article

By Amy Nicholson

“Elemental” is the latest Pixar premise to feel like someone laced the cafeteria’s kombucha keg with ayahuasca. Starting eight years ago with “Inside Out,” the animation company has transformed cartoons into a form of group therapy that encourages audiences to ruminate on inner peace, death (“Coco”) and resurrection (“Soul”). This story is simpler (elemental, even). It’s a girl-meets-boy cross-cultural romantic comedy — a good one that woos us to root for the big kiss. But the Pixar-brand psychotropic flourish comes from which cultures. Here, they are water, earth, air and fire — the four classical elements that the ancient philosopher Empedocles used to explain our world — all tenuously coexisting in Element City, a Manhattan analogue founded by the first droplet to ooze out of the primordial sea. The girl, Ember Lumen (voiced by Leah Lewis), is a leggy lick of flame; her crush, Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie), is a drip. When she brushes near him, his body roils. Steamy.

This setup sounds strange and looks stranger. Yet, the four classical elements are one of civilization’s great unifiers, a cosmological theory shared by the Hindu Vedas, the Buddhist Mahabhuta, the Kongo cosmogram, the Indigenous medicine wheel and the zodiac. We’ve long interpreted life through water, earth, air and fire. Now, the trick is to see the life in them, once we squint past the visually overwhelming chaos of Element City, a smelting pot of puns and allusions.

You’d have to freeze-frame each scene to absorb all the sight gags: fire-mommies pushing fire-babies in BBQ grills, tree-couples tenderly harvesting each other’s apples, luxury tower aquariums with sunken swimming pools for a living room, whirlwind basketball games that hawk souvenir cloud-shaped pants. Even then, the yuks spillith over into the closing credits whose margins are cluttered with funny bits of illustrated flotsam like Lighterfinger candy bars and Sizzlemint gum.

The suspension of disbelief is so staggering that one flaw in the execution would cause the whole gimmick to collapse. I decided to trust the director, Peter Sohn, during the opening sequence. As Ember’s future parents, Bernie and Cinder (Ronnie del Carmen and Shila Ommi) disembark upon a bizarro Ellis Island, all-too-aware that they’re two of the earliest fireball émigrés, I clocked her father’s chain mail pants and relaxed. Metal knickers are the kind of minutia that tells you Sohn and the three screenwriters (John Hoberg, Kat Likkel and Brenda Hsueh) have pored over every corner of their high concept, allowing us to make the mental switch from scanning the landscape suspiciously to marveling in the details.

The staggering design ambition balances out the plot’s affecting, relatable ordinariness, which kicks in a couple of decades after the Lumens settle in and open a store that ignites a thriving fire community. By the time Ember is an adult, the Firish (as in “Kiss Me, I’m…”) have erected blocks of residential kilns that resemble a modernized Cappadocia. Yet, there’s no forgetting that Element City was once a wets-only town. The Wetro light rail zipping overhead creates a splash zone of urban blight in its wake.

Ember expects to inherit the family shop. Then Wade bursts through the pipes. Smartly, the couple’s differences aren’t just tactile — they’re cultural. A child of immigration and sacrifice, she’s overworked, emotionally burdened, vulnerable to being snuffed and prone to explode. He’s a preppy, soft-bellied blue-blood comfortable wearing his emotions on (or rather, soaking through) his sleeves. Even his name — Wade Ripple — belongs inside a champagne bucket in Kennebunkport.

The film’s loveliest stretches watch the pair tentatively discover each other’s habitats. She’s enchanted by (and quietly resentful of) his confidence that he’s welcome anywhere. He finds purpose encouraging her to forge through a society inclined to see her as distracting (dark movie theaters are a no-go), off-putting (what’s with that flamin’ hot food!) and dangerous (look out when her temper ticks past its flashpoint).

Their romance doesn’t rush a beat. Oddly, it’s the most human rom-com in years. There’s no villain, no phony contrivances, and the mandatory breakup is well-buttressed by the script. The running time is strung together from dozens of perceptive moments and the occasional stunning set-piece. A near-wordless scuba dive (a callback to WALL-E and Eva’s space ballet?) plays like a swoony Bollywood interlude alongside Thomas Newman’s gentle, semi-acoustic score, which could double as a mood-setter at a meditation retreat. This is what animation should do: wow us with expressive, impossible wonders rather than reimagining Flounder from “The Little Mermaid” as a photorealistic fish.

“Elemental” seems like a stunt from a company running dry on ideas. Perhaps that’s partially true. Yet, it’s in the tradition of mankind’s long history looking to water, earth, air and fire to understand itself. Only, please, nobody tell Pixar that Aristotle added a fifth element, ether, which physicists interpret as dark matter or the void. My brain can’t handle a sequel.

Elemental Rated PG. Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes. In theaters.

An earlier version of this review described incorrectly the humor in “Elemental.” It included jokes about breaking wind; those jokes weren’t completely absent from the film.

When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at [email protected] . Learn more

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

A Tearful Talk : Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, the stars of the new movie “Wicked,” reflected on their long ride together , getting through Covid and the actors’ strike, and avoiding “playing to the green.”

Capturing America : As the wildly popular TV western “Yellowstone” prepares to air its final episodes, we look at four ways it seized the country’s attention .

Recreating War-Torn London : “Blitz,” Steve McQueen’s latest film, set in 1940 during Germany’s bombardment of the British capital, draws extensively from wartime photos .

Streaming Guides:  If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings   on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime  and Hulu  to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Watching Newsletter:  Sign up to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows  to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

IMDb rating

User ratings.

7.1 Unweighted mean

More from this title

More to explore, recently viewed.

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

Parents' Ultimate Guide to Roblox (2024)

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Jewish Experiences
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Multicultural Books

YouTube Channels with Diverse Representations

Podcasts with Diverse Characters and Stories

Parents' guide to.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 60 Reviews
• Kids Say 64 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Heartfelt, romantic fable about immigrant experience.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Pixar's Elemental is a beautifully animated fable about the immigrant experience. It's set in Element City, where fire, earth, water, and air people coexist, but fire people are mistreated and discriminated against. That makes it hard for fiery Ember (voiced by Leah Lewis) to trust…

Why Age 6+?

Many explosive bursts of fire, especially when Ember loses her temper. A couple

A married couple hold hands and embrace. Lots of romantic moments between main c

"Dang," "what the...," and a couple of curse-word stand-ins, like "ash" ("lazy a

Nothing on-screen, but plenty of off-screen merchandise tie-ins include apparel,

Any Positive Content?

Focuses on importance of compassion, empathy, and perseverance. Encourages hones

Ember is a loyal, loving daughter to devoted parents who believe her dream is to

Diverse voice cast includes Chinese American actor Leah Lewis; Mamoudou Athie, w

Even though it's a fantasy, the movie serves as an allegory to teach viewers abo

Parents need to know that Pixar's Elemental is a beautifully animated fable about the immigrant experience. It's set in Element City, where fire, earth, water, and air people coexist, but fire people are mistreated and discriminated against. That makes it hard for fiery Ember (voiced by Leah Lewis ) to trust watery Wade ( Mamoudou Athie ), but as they work together to save her family's store, Ember starts to open her mind to the idea of cross-element friendship (and more!) while also teaching Wade about the injustices the fire folks have faced. There's more romance here than in non-princess Disney Pixar films, but Ember and Wade are young adults, not kids or teens. Characters hold hands, flirt, embrace, dance, touch, and kiss briefly. Language includes discriminatory comments said to fire folks (such as "go back to Fireland"), as well as insults like "stupid" and "jerk" and swearing stand-ins (e.g., "lazy ash"). Diversity and immigration are major themes of the story, as are prejudice; the importance of communication, empathy, and compassion; and the unique challenges faced by the children of immigrants and refugees.

To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Violence & Scariness

Many explosive bursts of fire, especially when Ember loses her temper. A couple of upsetting scenes show how a natural disaster involving water destroyed a lot of Fireland's homes and endangered its people. Rushing water/large waves also put characters in danger, nearly destroy the fire community in Element City, and seem to kill one character ( spoiler alert : they aren't dead!). In general, fire characters can cause damage to other elements if they get too close, and water characters can snuff out (usually temporarily, but occasionally for good) fire characters. A dying grandmother's wish is recalled (she seems to disintegrate into ash when her time is up). Yelling, arguments.

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

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A married couple hold hands and embrace. Lots of romantic moments between main characters Ember and Wade. They spend a lot of time together; a few pivotal scenes of them trying to touch and then successfully touching, dancing, embracing. They kiss briefly. Two trees who are spotted plucking fruit from each other realize they've been caught and say it's "just a little pruning," which is repeated later in a jokey way. A few other couples are spotted on dates holding hands, hugging and even kissing (including in the end-credit sequence). A character says "you're so hot" and "you're smoking," but he means it literally, not in the suggestive way the fire character initially believes. A young tree character flirts with Ember and later another girl.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

"Dang," "what the...," and a couple of curse-word stand-ins, like "ash" ("lazy ash") and "fluffing," etc. Also "stupid," "crazy," "jerk," "dang," "oh gosh," "holy dewdrop," "God" (as an exclamation), "hanky panky," and element-based insults like "fireball" and "cloudpuffs." Language that makes it clear that other elements discriminate against fire people -- like "you don't have an accent," "go back to Fireland," and "you don't belong here."

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

Products & Purchases

Nothing on-screen, but plenty of off-screen merchandise tie-ins include apparel, toys, figurines, games, books, and household goods.

Positive Messages

Focuses on importance of compassion, empathy, and perseverance. Encourages honest communication between parents and children, as well as romantic partners. Following your dreams while remaining loyal to your family and honoring your parents is a major theme, as is idea that people should be sensitive to others' cultural/racial background, upbringing, and class. Explores the tension between privilege and duty.

Positive Role Models

Ember is a loyal, loving daughter to devoted parents who believe her dream is to take over the family business. She struggles with her temper, but she uses mindfulness techniques to control it (with mixed results). She isn't particularly open-minded at first but learns to appreciate the rest of the elements and how the Fire folks can learn to collaborate and coexist with them. Wade is sensitive, emotional, and kind. He and his family cry easily and are more open with one another. He comes from a position of privilege but is open-minded (and open-hearted). Ember's parents have sacrificed a lot for her, and they want her to have a successful, happy life.

Diverse Representations

Diverse voice cast includes Chinese American actor Leah Lewis; Mamoudou Athie, who's Black; Filipino actor Ronnie del Carmen; Iranian-born actor Shila Ommi. Both director Peter Sohn and writer Brenda Hsueh are Asian American. The elements (fire, water, earth, air) are essentially stand-ins for human racial/ethnic immigrant and refugee groups in a caste system (with fire, whose cultural markers seem meant to suggest those of Middle Eastern countries, seemingly the outcasts). Characters use unwelcoming phrases that have parallels with racist/classist statements -- e.g., "elements don't mix," "go back to Fireland," "Fire doesn't belong here," etc. Ember's parents are given new names by officials who can't pronounce their real names when they first arrive in Element City, and a water character says "you speak so well and clearly" to Ember, who clearly considers it a microaggression, since she grew up speaking the same language as the water family. (The water character looks embarrassed by his comment.) Wade has a queer relative whose girlfriend is introduced to Ember at a family dinner.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update .

Educational Value

Even though it's a fantasy, the movie serves as an allegory to teach viewers about the immigrant experience, discrimination, segregation, and cross-cultural relationships.

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (60)
• Kids say (64)

Based on 60 parent reviews

Fun film that's not really for sub 13 y/os

What's the story.

ELEMENTAL is set in Element City, where water, earth, air, and fire people live together -- but the fire folks have been discriminated against and mostly live separately from the other elements, in their own community. The movie opens with a fire couple arriving at an Ellis Island-like processing center, where they're dubbed Cinder (voiced by Shila Ommi) and Bernie ( Ronnie del Carmen ) Lumen because the agent who helps them can't understand their actual names. They eventually have a baby girl named Ember and buy a rundown building that they fix up to be both their home and their livelihood: a thriving convenience store that becomes a neighborhood hub. Ember grows up knowing that she'll eventually run the shop, although she has trouble tamping down her temper with difficult customers. As a young adult, Ember ( Leah Lewis ) is on the cusp of proving that she's ready to manage the store, but one of her hotheaded outbursts causes Wade Ripple ( Mamoudou Athie ), an emotional water guy, to get pulled in through the pipes. Wade turns out to be a government inspector, who feels duty bound to file a pile of citations, which will close the shop if they go through. Determined to keep the crisis a secret from her aging parents, Ember teams up with Wade to find a way to save the store. During their time together, they encourage each other and start to wonder whether different elements can mix, despite what they've always been taught.

Is It Any Good?

Director Peter Sohn 's beautifully animated allegory is a simple but sweet story that brings the immigrant journey and the first-generation experience to vibrant life. While the film's plot isn't quite as robust as those of Disney Pixar's most famous adventures, Elemental does touchingly delve into the challenges and triumphs of being the child of refugees and growing up immersed in a culturally homogenous community. It shows both the comfort and strength of being around your own people and the fact that wider society can be prejudiced. Ember's dilemma -- whether to sacrifice her own feelings in order to honor her parents or to follow her own desires but risk hurting those who raised her -- is authentic, if oversimplified. The nuances are right: Ember wants to be a "good daughter," to fulfill her duty, to take up the mantle from her stressed and tired father. But as she explores Element City, gets to know Wade, and discovers her more artistic side (she's a talented glass blower), she must figure out whether her future contains more possibilities than she imagined.

Lewis and Athie are both well cast, embodying two opposing examples of young adulthood -- one focused on pleasing their parents by pursuing a specific goal and the other willing to flit from job to job until they find "their thing." The parents' voices -- including Wade's widowed mom, voiced by the inimitable Catherine O'Hara -- are also expressive and humorous. And the movie's dating aspects are tender, if a little obvious. Wade and Ember's opposites-attract chemistry is funny until it's clear that Ember really is concerned that her family will disown her if she dates a "water guy." Wade's family, by contrast, is immediately Team Ember, heartily welcoming her (albeit a bit awkwardly, thanks to the clueless old uncle who makes a mildly racist comment). The main characters' slow-burn (pun intended) relationship aside, Elemental has astonishingly gorgeous and detailed animation. The various element folks are vividly colorful, with visceral textures and fantastic (and fantastical) landscapes and movements. The glass-making scenes are especially memorable, and the water-based disasters devastating. While the littlest viewers may not pick up on all of the story's nuances, they'll still understand the importance of inclusion, family, and love.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about what Elemental has to say about the immigrant experience. How does Ember's situation embody what life can be like for immigrants' children?

Some of the movie's scenes are sad or scary. Is it OK for a kids' movie to not be cheerful and silly all the time? How much scary stuff can young kids handle?

The characters learn and demonstrate character strengths like compassion , perseverance , and empathy . Why are these important?

Discuss the quality of the animation in the movie. How do the details of the elements stand out?

How are race and discrimination addressed in the movie? What parallels can you see to our real life?

Movie Details

• In theaters : June 16, 2023
• On DVD or streaming : September 26, 2023
• Cast : Leah Lewis , Mamoudou Athie , Ronnie Del Carmen
• Director : Peter Sohn
• Inclusion Information : Asian directors, Female actors, Black actors, Female writers, Asian writers
• Studio : Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
• Genre : Family and Kids
• Topics : Magic and Fantasy , Friendship
• Character Strengths : Communication , Compassion , Empathy , Perseverance
• Run time : 103 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG
• MPAA explanation : some peril, thematic elements and brief language
• Award : Common Sense Selection
• Last updated : August 3, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

What to watch next.

A Bug's Life

Disney pixar movies, best disney movies, related topics.

• Communication
• Perseverance
• Magic and Fantasy

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Find Family Movies, Movie Ratings and Movie Reviews

Elemental Parent Guide

Stunning visual design and an appealing story come together in a magical family film..

Theaters: In a city where fire, earth, air, and water residents live, a young fire woman meets a water man and learns to step outside her comfort zone.

Release date June 16, 2023

Run Time: 109 minutes

Get Content Details

The guide to our grades, parent movie review by kirsten hawkes.

Ember Lumen (Leah Lewis) has a lifelong dream – running Fireplace, her father’s neighborhood store. That goal is threatened when she loses her temper, bursts pipes in the basement, and comes across city inspector Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie). Wade issues numerous tickets and informs Ember that the store was built against code and must be closed down.

Determined not to have her father’s life’s work destroyed, Ember chases Wade through Element City, finally persuading him to help her save the shop. As the two work together, their relationship deepens but they face a unique obstacle. Ember is a Fire – a person made of flame – and Wade is a Water – a man composed of H 2 O. Fire and water don’t mix. In fact, as everyone knows, they will destroy one another if they touch.

Where Elemental shines is in its exquisitely detailed worldbuilding. The city has inhabitants who are made of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water and the filmmakers have given them distinct physical characteristics and dwellings. Water people are weepily emotional and live in glass skyscrapers. Air dwellers are made of clouds and live with a pastel color palette. Earth residents are plants who come in many different shapes. In a humorous take, puberty is signaled by the growth of flowers in their armpits – a quirk that is repeatedly played for laughs. Fire people eat charcoal, wear metallic clothing, and live in brick, stone, and clay homes. As with other Pixar films, the detail is astounding and the artistic renderings superb. It will take more than one viewing to absorb all the minutiae the animation artists have packed into this production.

The movie doesn’t just look good; it also tells an absorbing story. This is obviously a film about diversity, but it does more than just repeat that “diversity is good” – it demonstrates that diversity is beautiful. As Ember and Wade get to know each other, they marvel at the wonders of each other’s worlds and talents. There are truly breathtaking moments in this movie when Ember makes glass, Wade creates a rainbow, or the couple take an underwater voyage to see a magical tree.

The film also tackles difficult issues – perhaps too many to fit comfortably in its runtime. Fire people are clearly an underclass in Element City and the story addresses prejudice, exclusion, class differences, cultural preservation, and clueless good intentions. A major plotline concerns Ember’s struggles with her parents’ expectations. As a daughter of immigrants, she feels trapped by the magnitude of her parents’ sacrifice and must learn to express her own hopes and talents. The script follows a well-trodden path but does so with gentle honesty.

Real originality comes in the movie’s love story. Ember and Wade are the unlikeliest odd couple – an explosive, radiant woman with anger management issues, and a chill, emotionally open guy with surfer dude vibes. Somehow it works. Their relationship is fraught with peril but also lit with acceptance, love, and joy. That’s not something you see every day in a kids’ film but being able to tap into these elemental emotions explains why Pixar continues to dominate the world of family entertainment.

About author

Kirsten hawkes, watch the trailer for elemental.

Elemental Rating & Content Info

Why is Elemental rated PG? Elemental is rated PG by the MPAA for some peril, thematic elements, and brief language

Violence: Dangerous floods put characters at risk and cause property damage. A character’s death is implied on screen. Children playfully hit each other with sticks. Fire characters are discriminated against by being denied access to an attraction. A character causes property destruction when she loses her temper and inadvertently sets things on fire. Sexual Content: There is some brief, minor sexual innuendo. A male and female character kiss. Two very minor female characters are introduced as “girlfriends”. An adult mentions “hanky panky”. Profanity:   The word “ash” is used as a substitute for an anatomical term. Alcohol / Drug Use: None noted.

Page last updated June 29, 2024

Elemental Parents' Guide

Why does Ember feel responsible for taking over her father’s store? Why is she afraid to tell him what she really wants to do?

What do Ember and Wade love about each other? What do they learn from one another? How are their lives enriched by their time together? Have you ever spent time with someone with different talents or who comes from a different culture? What did you learn from them?

This movie has striking visual design. If you want to learn more about how the film was made, follow these links:

Mama’s Geeky: Designing Element City & Its Residents for Pixar’s Elemental

Laughing Place: Building Element City – The Real Stories That Inspired Pixar’s “Elemental”

Loved this movie? Try these books…

There are plenty of books to choose from if you’re looking for something that will help your child appreciate other cultures – and get along better with others.

This Is How We Do It follows a day in the life of kids from Italy, India, Iran, Japan, Peru, Russia, and Uganda. Written by Matt Lamothe, this book gives kids the chance to learn what it’s like to live in another culture.

Kids who want to learn more about other cultures can read Our Favorite Day of the Year, a book that explains cultural holidays and is written by A.E. Ali and illustrated by Rahele Jomepour Bell.

In rhyming text Are Your Stars Like My Stars? encourages children to imagine how children in other parts of the world experience their lives. This picture book is written by Leslie Helakoski and illustrated by Heidi Woodward Sheffield.

Pen pals Elliot and Kailash learn about their differences and similarities in Same, Same But Different by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw.

Cultural differences – and similarities – are made easy to understand in Everybody Cooks Rice. In this book by Norah Dooley and Peter J. Thornton, a girl’s trip through her neighborhood uses food to show how people can take a simple ingredient and produce marvelously different foods.

Related home video titles:

The benefits of diversity take center stage in Zootopia , the tale of a rabbit who wants to be a police officer in a world where those jobs are usually taken by larger animals.

Sea monsters and humans learn to look beyond their biases and stereotypes and live together peacefully in the animated film Luca.

Learning to value diverse gifts, particularly those that are not seen as important, is the theme of Encanto , the story of a family living in an enchanted house that begins to lose its magic.

MeiMei is the daughter of immigrant parents and she discovers an unexpected family trait when she turns into a giant red panda. Turning Red gives viewers of all ages a magical tale about family, friendship, cultural adaptation, and courage.

We sent an email to [email protected]

Didn't you get the email?

By joining, you agree to the Terms and Policies and Privacy Policy and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

User 8 or more characters with a number and a lowercase letter. No spaces.

username@email

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

• About Rotten Tomatoes®
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening This Week
• Top Box Office
• Coming Soon to Theaters
• Certified Fresh Movies

Movies at Home

• Fandango at Home
• Prime Video
• Most Popular Streaming Movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• 80% Emilia Pérez Link to Emilia Pérez
• 96% A Real Pain Link to A Real Pain
• 100% All We Imagine as Light Link to All We Imagine as Light

New TV Tonight

• 75% Dune: Prophecy: Season 1
• 75% Landman: Season 1
• 83% Interior Chinatown: Season 1
• -- Based On A True Story: Season 2
• -- The Sex Lives of College Girls: Season 3
• 100% Outlander: Season 7
• -- A Man on the Inside: Season 1
• -- Cruel Intentions: Season 1
• -- Our Oceans: Season 1
• -- Making Manson: Season 1

Most Popular TV on RT

• 100% Arcane: League of Legends: Season 2
• 95% The Penguin: Season 1
• 83% The Day of the Jackal: Season 1
• 75% Cross: Season 1
• 90% Say Nothing: Season 1
• 95% Silo: Season 2
• 85% Cobra Kai: Season 6
• 100% From: Season 3
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV

Certified fresh pick

• 100% Arcane: League of Legends: Season 2 Link to Arcane: League of Legends: Season 2
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

30 Most Popular Movies Right Now: What to Watch In Theaters and Streaming

25 Most Popular TV Shows Right Now: What to Watch on Streaming

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming.

Awards Tour

Weekend Box Office: Red One Debuts in First, but Faces Uphill Battle

Movie Re-Release Calendar 2024 & 2025: Your Guide to Movies Back In Theaters

• Trending on RT
• Gladiator II First Reviews
• Holiday Programming
• Verified Hot Movies

Elemental Reviews

It’s almost as though the contours of what made Pixar great have been copied out here in vague watercolour.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 18, 2024

With its gorgeous animation and vibrant colours, Elemental seems to mark a return to the classic magical atmosphere that characterises Pixar cartoons and marked many of our childhoods.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 15, 2024

A vivid, vibrant world and expectedly colourful, absorbing animation are never matched by Elemental’s basic plot and clumsy allegories.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 3, 2024

Consequently, the film not only focuses on interclass and racial romance, but also reflects on other issues such as uprooting, the breaking of family mandates, prejudices and vocation or talent.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Aug 22, 2024

There is no shortage of imagination in place, and the fluid animation, paired with the kinetic pacing and creative solutions to singular elemental problems, shows a dynamic engagement with the premise on the part of the director and animators.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 19, 2024

The animation is perfect, but the script is weak, and for a film like this the writing really needed to be much much sharper. It's all a bit damp.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 5, 2024

It’s not often you get an original concept from Pixar that doesn’t work.

Full Review | Mar 1, 2024

Elemental manages to be pleasantly heart-warming, if not nearly as profound or affecting as some of the studios’ previous projects.

Full Review | Jan 12, 2024

Probably one of the worst Pixar outings in a very long time.

Full Review | Dec 14, 2023

Baby's first immigrant story and interracial relationship courtesy of … Disney/Pixar? I jest because, honestly, ELEMENTAL is cute and does work on that social level.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Dec 1, 2023

An anthropomorphic immigrant romance combines into a mixed metaphorical mess... a Pixar film built on “plussing” instead of being enhanced by it... hoping the rapid fire nonsense will gloss over the lack of cohesion.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Nov 25, 2023

Pixar always had something new up its collective artistic sleeve. And yet here they are, coming out with a film as dull-witted and syrupy as Elemental.

Full Review | Oct 31, 2023

Stunning animation sparks this cross-cultural, high-concept 'Romeo & Juliet' romantic comedy, inspired by the periodic chart of elements that one recalls from science class.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Sep 26, 2023

Elemental is a marvel of layered animation techniques that float through that uncanny valley between 2D and 3D. It’s hard to discern the physical set pieces from those created in a computer and that lends an edge of realism.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 23, 2023

"Trying to make a character out of a cloud" is a sadly apt metaphor for this whole doomed endeavor.

Full Review | Original Score: D | Sep 20, 2023

Together, with the thematic elements and execution of the ideas, "Elemental" goes beyond tear-inducing, reaching soul-shaking. Absolutely the surprise film of 2023.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 13, 2023

Water, Fire, Earth, and Air are like ethnic inhabitants of distinctive neighborhoods in this imaginatively designed Element City, with the Periodic Table-like skyline. But the story line gets heavy-handed about immigrants and accepting different folks.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Sep 6, 2023

Elemental does reward a big screen experience, and its message about love, self-determination, and community is relevant and welcome.

Full Review | Sep 6, 2023

This Pixar movie doesn’t rekindle the studio’s old magic, but it’s no washout either.

Full Review | Sep 2, 2023

Visually, the film generally makes up for its dubiously executed premise and underwhelming conflict resolution – it had better, considering the $200 million budget.

Full Review | Aug 16, 2023