This paper analyzes Enrico Casarosa’s 2021 Disney-Pixar film, Luca , as a multifaceted allegory for marginalized identities, social assimilation, and cultural preservation. Set in the mid-20th century Italian Riviera, the film follows two young sea monsters, Luca Paguro and Alberto Scorfano, who must mask their true nature to survive in the human town of Portorosso. While initially marketed as a simple coming-of-age story centered on friendship, the film functions as a rich text for examining the social pressures of "passing" as a dominant group. This study explores the film’s handling of otherness, its intricate construction of Italian regional identity, and its unintended yet widely embraced resonance with queer and immigrant narratives. 🏛️ Introduction
Historically, folklore and cinema paint the "sea monster" as a predatory brute. Luca subverts this by making the humans the aggressors and the monsters the vulnerable party. Luca (2021)
The town of Portorosso fears the sea monsters just as much as the sea monsters fear the "land monsters." This study explores the film’s handling of otherness,