Pixar, you brought this upon yourself. After films like Wall-E, Inside Out, and Soul, it’s almost depressing to see the studio take a step back to smaller storytelling like Luca. And yet, the filmmakers there are so talented they trade big ideas for earnest heartfelt emotion. Luca is middle of the road Pixar filmmaking, but that still means its a notch above almost everything anyways. Plus, if Pixar keeps choosing Italian Riviera locales like in Luca, I’m kinda ok taking a break on the beach for a bit.
In the town of Portorosso, tales about about sea monsters that inhabit the waters offshore. Well, those stories are true, and Luca (Jacob Tremblay) is one such sea monster, raised underwater by his sea monster parents Daniela (Maya Rudolph) and Lorenzo (Jim Gaffigan) who are scared of the sea monster hunting town above. Scared but curious, Luca gets coaxed to the surface by Alberto (Jack Dylan Grazer), a fellow sea monster. On land, the monsters transform into human form (unless they get wet), and Alberto teaches Luca how fun it can be to be a human, hoping the two can buy a Vespa and travel around the aboveground world.
Luca slides right into the middle tier of Pixar’s films alongside films like The Good Dinosaur or Onward. The through line for Luca and those other films is that they are deeply personal coming of age stories. Luca and Alberto, like teenagers, are masquerading as adults, hiding parts of themselves to try to blend in. Alberto puts on that faux teen bravado to hide his fear about his past, and Luca overanalyzes each situation with his fear of the unknown. Enter Giulia (Emma Berman), whom the boys meet out in town. She’s the town pixie dream girl to be: an inventor/dreamer encouraged by her loving but divorced parents to be her true oddball self. Through Giulia’s example and encouragement, Luca begins to feel more comfortable in his new skin and surroundings, discovering new ways to grow that Luca never even considered. This turns that uneasy and scared persona to slowly melt away, helping each of them become more confident better people sure of themselves, ready to stand up to the local bully, and maybe even reveal their true selves to others.
And it’s in the Luca/Alberto/Giulia relationships that the emotional heft of the story takes hold. For those Boy Meets World fans out there, the dynamic is very similar to Cory/Sean/Topanga, but in the early years. Luca is the Cory here, basically your normal kid pulled in different directions by two friends, learning things from both to help make him a better person. Giulia is Topanga, the boys’ self-assured loner turned friend just looking for new friends and ways to grow herself. Giulia is the steady rock of the story: she’s got it all together. But Alberto, aka the Sean Hunter, is the driver of the best parts of the movie. Unlike Luca and Giulia who had loving guiding forces in their lives, Alberto had to fend on his own. Luca opens his heart again, finding a new friend to take an adventure with him. While Alberto doesn’t hate Giulia, he sees her as a threat, as her life of education might steal his best friend away from him, leaving him alone. While the movie wants the ending to be the big emotional climax, the movie’s high point happens about 20 min earlier because of how much we care for Alberto and his inspiring/sad upbringing.
I have many friends that are parents now. Luca is a nice sweet intro into Pixar’s storytelling for those kids. You don’t want to Bambi traumatize them right away: you have to ease them in. And a beautiful beach town with funny fish and adorable monsters is about as innocent and charming as it gets. Plus you could Pavolv your kids into upper society by making them like the Italian opera songs scattered across Luca’s soundtrack.