Adrian Molina's strongest work keeps a particular family at the centre of the adventure. We recommend Coco despite its busy plotting; Elio is less assured, though its shared direction makes it a poor measure of him alone.
Fi1m perspective
In Elio (2025), an orphan living with his aunt wants nothing more than to leave Earth. We were moved by that opening half hour, because his wish to be taken away makes his loneliness painfully clear. Once he reaches the council of alien ambassadors, the film becomes busy with a story whose turns are too easy to anticipate. It stays kind, but the boy's unhappiness was more interesting than much of the adventure that follows.
Molina's move from storyboarding into writing and co-direction found its strongest result in Coco (2017), made with Lee Unkrich. Its Día de los Muertos setting gives the family story the particulars that Elio too often lacks. The fear of being forgotten is taken seriously, without preventing the film from being funny or making room for music. The detailed Land of the Dead and the voices keep us interested in the family even when the plotting begins to feel familiar.
The trouble comes when Molina and fellow screenwriter Matthew Aldrich have to move Miguel from one complication to the next. Some passages feel as though they are there to postpone the scene we actually want to reach. Editors Lee Unkrich and Steve Bloom keep the adventure brisk, which helps without making the extra complications necessary. The opening also asks us to absorb plenty of explanation. We can admire Molina's care for the family while wishing he and Aldrich had given the story fewer obstacles.
With Elio, assigning responsibility is harder. Molina left the production in 2024 but retained a directing credit; Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian are credited alongside him. We cannot fairly give him sole credit for the opening's tenderness, or sole blame for the routine plotting that follows. We would like to see him keep a family's worries in view without adding quite so many complications. Choose Coco for a family evening, with some patience for the plotting.
Biography
Adrian Molina is an American animator, storyboard artist, screenwriter and director at Pixar Animation Studios.
Born in Yuba City, California, he graduated with a BFA in character animation from the California Institute of the Arts in 2007 and joined Pixar that year. He began as a 2D animator on Ratatouille (2007) and worked as a storyboard artist on Toy Story 3 (2010) and Monsters University (2013), later contributing additional screenplay material to The Good Dinosaur (2015).
Molina co-wrote the screenplay and story for Coco (2017), which he also co-directed. He is credited as director and story writer on Elio (2025).
