Elemental (2023)

Ember and Wade meet and -- though they're a danger to each other -- they're also drawn to each other. Ember's got some rage issues and some drama with her working-class parents and their expectation that she will take over their store some day. Wade, in contrast, seems to be a rich kid whose parents coddle him. Pretty big topics for an animated movie. 

This is, I'm guessing, supposed to be some kind of Romeo & Juliet anti-racism thing, but it feels tortured. Human bias against others of their species is purely prejudice: the only danger in dating outside one's race is societal. But in Element City the danger is very real: Wade can extinguish Ember while Ember can evaporate Wade. That's not something beings should just look past. And Ember's short fuse isn't cute or forgivable just because it's a symptom of her reluctance to be a shopkeeper. This whole elements-as-characters thing should've died before it got going.

Really beautiful animation, though.

C