‘Luca’ Is Just ‘Call Me By Your Name’ Without the Peach
Assorted Flavors features listicles and other movie-related goodies.
By Carrie Jarosinski
I adored Call Me By Your Name when I saw it in theaters. The heat of the movie radiated through the screen, Michael Stuhlbarg’s monologue gave me chills, and the closing shot of Timothée Chalamet’s tear-filled eyes still haunts my dreams. It’s what summer movie dreams are made of.
So it’s no surprise that I also adored the 2021 Disney/Pixar sea monster coming-of-age movie Luca as well. Why? Well, because aside from one teensy tiny little scene in Call Me By Your Name involving a peach, they’re pretty much the same movie.
Settle in, pour yourself a negroni, and stay with me on this.
1. Animated Doppelgängers
Let’s just go ahead and call out the obvious one. If you were to go out and ask AI to generate a cartoon version of Elio and Oliver, you would absolutely find a dapper, sandy-haired, hazel-eyed, moderately brawny Alberto and an awkward, dark-featured, wavy-haired, wee-little Luca.
2. The Mentor Relationship
I know, it feels like a stretch to call Oliver a mentor to Elio in Call Me By Your Name. But he lured in Elio with his charm and showed him a whole new world within himself and beyond. Repelled by the groomy nature of this relationship? No worries, I get it. You’ll find a similar yet more agreeable relationship in Luca, which is filled to the brim with scenes of Alberto teaching Luca how to navigate life on land, vespa building adventures and bike training montages.
3. Italia Dreamscape
If your movie’s going to feature a budding romance and you have one place to do it, you obviously travel to the land of gelato and wine and beautiful people. Balmy summer days and the bustle of a quaint little village in Italy as the backdrop for the relationships in these movies are practically perfect. Scenes by the water, bike rides through town, gazing up at the sky together… the list goes on!
4. Self-Acceptance
Sure, Call Me By Your Name addresses (very directly) the idea of sexual identity and exploration, but if you wrap up Luca’s ideas of shame and fear with dialogue like: “Does your school take all kinds of humans?” or “What do you think they’ll do when they see your fish face?” you can pretty easily parallel the sentiment. Bonus: we get a pretty well-packed message to kids on the importance of self-love.
5. MVP Dads
Both movies are all fine and good on their own, but we can all agree that nothing beats a supremely supportive Dad. Mr. Perlman of course wins for the most stunningly intimate and vulnerable speech of all time, but Lorenzo still gets major points for rocking a seaweed skirt and making signage to cheer on Luca at his big race.
6. The Third Wheel
Sorry, Marzia and Giulia. You may know a thing or two about dancing and eating pasta, but these guys’ loyalty is to each other.