David Farnor | On 24, Sep 2023

Director: Peter Sohn
Cast: Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey
Certificate: PG

There’s a point at which doing something very well becomes a curse as well as a blessing. Pixar crossed that point years ago, its consistently astonishing animated gems setting a bar of expectation that’s almost too high to meet. Elemental, the studio’s latest offering, was dismissed by many upon its release as being sub-Inside Out or a pale imitation of Zootopia, but like Brave years before it, it’s a gently, imtimate tale that benefits from its own simplicity.

The film introduces us to Element City, where the four elements – fire, water, air and earth – all live together in supposed harmony. But, of course, there are tensions and divisions built into the infrastructure, something that Bernie (Ronnie Del Carmen and Cindy Lumen (Shila Ommi) know all too well – first-generation fire immigrants who run a shop in Fire Town. They’ve raised their daughter, Ember (Leah Lewis), to take over the family business.

Things go wrong, however, when Ember erupts at work and causes a water leak – bringing with it Wade Ripple (Mamoudou Athie), a water boy who works as a city inspector and has the job of reporting the shop’s safety violations. They’re a volatile pair, but – inevitably – their opposites attract, and a slow attraction begins to blossom.

This, of course, is a tale as old as time, but there’s a reason for it: tolerating, accepting and valuing each other’s differences is of timeless importance, and director Peter Sohn vividly brings that to life through some stunning visuals, matching contrasting textures and layering transparencies with some beautifully observed world-building details.

That’s embodied gorgeously by our lead couple, with Ember’s fiery temper flickering visibly around her and Wade’s blubbering emotions bubbling constantly under his surface. By the time we’ve met both their parents – Bernie and Cindy, passionate yet yet, and Wade’s a pool of free-flowing feelings – Elemental builds from its core premise into something deceptively complex. What emerges is a tender exploration of cultural clashes, systemic inequality and social integration, as well as learning to be open in expressing one’s emotions.

But without getting bogged down in those specifics, the script manages to anchor it all in a broader story of learning to live with parental pressure and encouraging people to find their own calling in life. The result is familiar, but hugely moving and consistently inventive. It’s a warm fable of self-expression and self-acceptance – you just have to look past your own expectations to find it.

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