Director Enrico Casarosa is responsible for the film that could be considered Pixar’s absolute finest films.
Casarosa helmed the film, Luca, which debuted on Disney+ on June 18. Unlike other films that have appeared on the streaming service, this film is exclusive to Disney+ and is not hidden behind the service’s “premier access,” where you have to pay an additional fee to watch.
Luca follows the titular character, voiced by Jacob Tremblay, who is a young sea monster who is somewhat timid. His parents fear that humans will hunt him if he goes to the surface and he is forbidden to do so.
One day, Luca meets Alberto Scorfano (Jack Dylan Grazer), a fellow sea monster who lives above the surface, where he turns into a human outside of the water. Luca discovers his own human form and quickly learns how to act like a human, with coaching from Alberto.
Luca and Alberto quickly bond, and it’s a friendship that is beautifully animated and depicted throughout the film. They head to Alberto’s hideout, where they both dream about getting their own Vespa scooter bike.
However, Luca’s parents discover Luca has gone to the surface and plan to send him away to live in the deep sea with his uncle. Unable to stand being away from Alberto and the world above the surface, Luca flees home, and he and Alberto run away to nearby Pororosso to find a real Vespa and travel the world.
Along the way, they cross paths with the local bully Ercole Visconti (Saverio Raimondo), who has a Vespa of his own. Ercole attempts to dunk Luca into a water fountain (which would expose him as a sea monster), but the boys are rescued by Giulia Marcovaldo (Emma Berman), a young girl who lives in the town, and is planning to enter a triathlon. Luca and Alberto choose to team up with Giulia in order to win money to get their own Vespa and travel the world.
From there, Luca and Alberto explore the town together, with Luca being awed by seemingly everything the world has to offer above the surface. Meanwhile, Luca’s parents arrive on the surface and take on their own human forms while they search for their son.
The film is animated beautifully. Particularly of note is the animation done for Luca himself. As he discovers more and more about the world he’s learning about, his eyes always widen in wonder and his whole face lights up. The animation also nicely handles the transition from sea monster to human form during several scenes, where Luca and Alberto repeatedly jump in and out of the water, changing their forms several times.
In addition, the film is seemingly full of metaphors. Right away, the sea monsters represent a metaphor of feeling different in the world. This is especially clear when the townsfolk discuss sea monsters with fear and trepidation.
Many people have also seen Luca and Alberto being forced to hide their true identities as sea monsters as an allegory for LGBT+ people, who often have to hide their true selves in order to feel accepted. This particular allegory has a lot of merit, especially given the close bond that forms between Luca and Alberto from their first meeting in the film. Although Casarosa has said Luca and Alberto’s relationship is strictly platonic, it’s easy to see how the two characters can be interpreted as something more than friends.
Luca is available to stream on Disney+.
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