Far Out Friends

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Far Out Friends

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By Ben Elliott

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Weirdos need weirdos. It’s a recurring theme across the history of movies, with titles as diverse as Freaks, The Breakfast Club, and The Suicide Squad all heralding the need for outcasts to find their people. But what happens when those people aren’t people at all? Or even from this planet?

Ever since E.T. phoned home in 1982, filmmakers have used alien encounters as metaphors for the outsider experience, crafting some of the most heartfelt coming-of-age stories in movie history. Sometimes the alien comes to town (think Iron Giant, Lilo & Stitch, and cult curio Mac and Me), other times our hero gets whisked away, like in 80s adventures The Last Starfighter and Flight of the Navigator.

E.T., 1982

Elio, 2025

Pixar’s Elio, a new animated feature coming to The Triplex this week, continues the tradition with the story of a young boy beamed up to an intergalactic assembly when he’s mistaken as the ruler of Earth.

Like the classics before it, Elio is a tribute to empathy — to what happens when we stop being afraid of the unknown and start trying to understand it. These stories remind us that connection can come from the most unexpected places, and that sometimes, the best way to find ourselves is by reaching out to someone — or something — completely different.

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