This Undine, played by Paula Beer, lives in present-day Berlin and works as a city historian. An Undine, or Ondine is a famous nymph from European mythology, though the German writer-director Christian Petzold puts his own spin on the legend. The title character in the melancholy drama Undine is also a water sprite who takes on human form, though any similarities between the two movies pretty much end there. Theirs is a charming story about friendship, adventure and learning to live without fear.

While there's no romance in Luca, the subtext is hard to miss: After all, Luca and Alberto are struggling to conceal their true identities in a society that shuns what it doesn't understand. When the trailer for Luca was released weeks ago, its images of two boys running around a lush Italian paradise led more than a few to wonder, half-jokingly, if Pixar had made its own version of the gay love story Call Me by Your Name. But in embracing their new life on dry land, they also run the risk of being exposed and even harmed by the townsfolk, with their superstitious fear of sea monsters. Luca and Alberto befriend an outgoing young girl named Giulia and enter a local triathlon where one of the events is - what else? - a pasta-eating contest. Eventually Luca and Alberto make their way into town, which is gorgeously designed in a way we've come to expect from Pixar: The director Enrico Casarosa, working from a script by Jesse Andrews and Mike Jones, composes an exquisite visual love letter to Italy's cobblestoned streets and scenic piazzas. In one scene, Alberto shows Luca his home in a stone tower and teaches him about gravity and other forces he'll have to face on the surface. Luca's guide to the human world is another boy/undercover sea creature named Alberto.

Luca review