Elemental (2025)
September 19, 2025
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Elemental (2025)
Theme: A love story between the elemental inhabitants—fire, water, earth, and air—living together in the City of Elements.
Director: Peter Sohn
Lead Voices: Leah Lewis (Ember – Fuego), Mamoudou Athie (Wade – Water)
🧭 Story and Theme
The film tells the story of Ember, a passionate Fire girl, and Wade, a gentle and empathetic Water boy. They confront society and fall in love: a romantic and human story about accepting differences and finding peace between initially incompatible individuals.
Theme:
Love between couples of different natures (fire versus water).
Cultural values and the story of second-generation immigrants, reflected in the image of Ember and her family. Inspired by the childhood of Peter Sohn, born to immigrant parents who opened a boutique in the Bronx, New York.
🎼 Music and Visuals
The film’s score was composed by Thomas Newman, a unique blend of traditional instruments (sitar, mandolin, brass) and electronic sounds used as “electronic wind instruments” to create depth.
Lauv performs the theme song “Steal the Show,” which plays during Ember and Wade’s date scene, creating a romantic and memorable melody.
🖼 Design and Production
Element City’s neighborhoods are inspired by New York City, but with unique styles: Fire Town uses metal and brick, contrasting with Water Town, Air Town, and Land Town. The creative team drew inspiration from Venice and Amsterdam through YouTube tour videos due to pandemic-related travel restrictions.
This original film took approximately 7 years to develop, with a budget of approximately $200 million. Work was completed in March 2023.
🧾 Expert and Audience Opinions
Empire Online: Called Pixar’s first romantic film, although a bit heavy-handed and unbalanced, it conveyed genuine emotions, beautiful visual design, and impressive acting.
CinemaNerdz & But Why Tho?: Rated the film according to the usual criteria, lacking any standouts, but the visuals and narrative style are stable, as you’d expect from a Pixar film.
Screen Daily: The film is a moving immigration story, but it’s overwhelmed by the familiar plot, and the character development is a bit scattered.
IMDb users shared: “It seems like a simple romantic film, but they managed to tug at the viewer’s heartstrings.”
📈 Success and Legacy
The film premiered at numerous festivals (Cannes, Tribeca, etc.) and was released worldwide on June 16, 2023.
The film initially underperformed, but became a surprise hit with worldwide revenue of ~$496 million, driven by positive word of mouth and a stable market for Pixar animation.
Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and numerous other awards, including for the soundtrack and the song “Steal the Show.”
📰 Summary Article
Evocative title: Elemental – When Fire and Water Find a Common Rhythm
Many years after Inside Out, Pixar has created a deeply romantic film, bringing together two of the most diverse elements in the vibrant world of Element City. Ember and Wade represent not only the two elements, but also those who feel excluded from society due to prejudice or cultural differences. While the storytelling is unfortunately not groundbreaking, the film is nonetheless warm, moving, and visually stunning enough to make the audience feel the paradox of fire and water: they cannot mix… but they can love each other.
✅ Conclusion
Elemental is a Pixar work rich in meaning, from its human touch to the harmony of its music and visuals. While it’s not a classic like Up or Coco, for those who appreciate love stories that transcend barriers, it’s an experience not to be missed. What are your thoughts on Ember and Wade, or do you see any interesting connections between Elemental and familiar love stories?