Inside Out 2 Movie Review: In the climax scene of Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out 2, there comes a moment when director Kelsey Mann shows anxiety at its peak. Taking full control of the mind, the scene truly displayed how it feels when an anxiety attack takes place. It is in that moment I realised what an important film Mann, Maya Hawke, Amy Poehler and the whole team of Inside Out 2 have set out to deliver.
Releasing 10 years after the prequel, Inside Out 2 has taken a time jump. This time, fans of the franchise are reunited with a teenage Riley (Kensington Tallman), a star in class and in her hockey team. She is invited to train with an esteemed high school hockey coach. She will train alongside Valentina “Val” Ortiz (Lilimar), a popular high school hockey player. Unfortunately for her, she hit puberty on the first day of her camp.
This causes havoc in her mind. The headquarter, which so far housed only Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale) and Disgust (Liza Lapira), suddenly has more emotions coming in. These include Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser). The new emotions try to take charge and even suppress Riley’s previous emotions, forcing her to change. However, in the process, Riley loses her real self and even develops an anxiety problem.
Inside Out 2 goes on to show how these emotions learn to live together. The second Inside Out film is definitely more mature, well-thought and well-written than the first one. With the additions of the new emotions, director Kelsey Mann choses to deconstruct each new emotion, especially anxiety, instead of complicating Riley’s mind. This is a great approach towards shedding light on mental health for the audiences who are still learning about mental health issues, especially teenagers and young adults.
There is no denying that Maya Hawke’s anxiety is the star of the show. Given the complexity of anxiety, Mann has let it take charge and truly spread its wings — showing the positive and negative side of the emotion. Kudos to the screenplay writers Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein for not hating upon the emotion but making people empathise and normalise it.
Up until now, in the animation world, I felt that only Puss in Boots: The Last Wish came the closest to help me describe what anxiety looks like. However, after watching Inside Out 2, I feel that I can explain to people what it feels like internally. The scenes featuring the emotion showed that the film is well-researched and delicately crafted.
Another character which was well-presented was Embarrassment. The character leaves a lasting impact and holds a great screen presence despite the emotion having just one line in the film. His bond with sadness leaves a grin on your face. I really wish the film explored that dynamics a tad more. Envy was another character that lit up the screen every time she took the centre stage. Ayo Edebiri was wonderful behind the mic on this one.
As for the emotions from the first film, I loved that Kelsey Mann gave Joy and Anger a new arc. There are scenes in which Joy breaks down and Anger takes charge to hype her. As much as it sounds strange, it played out well on the screen, showing that even these emotions have matured with Riley.
Amy as Joy is always fun to hear. But this time, she was also given more scope than to just sound happy in the film and she embraced it with open arms. Her dynamics with Maya Hawke — animated and vocal — were the highlights of the film. But given that the attention was mostly on Joy and Anxiety, the supporting characters feel like they are getting lost in the narration, despite being present in the scene. The lack of story for them pops up in a few places and it is hard to miss.
Having said that, Pixar-Disney never fail when it comes to visuals. Inside Out 2 is a colourful film which is pleasing to the eyes. To top it off, the detailing in the vaults of the mind, the imagination space and the ‘back of the mind’ is impressive.
Inside Out 2 is a thought-provoking and emotional film that is bound to leave you in tears and makes you introspect long after the film is over.
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