Riley is 13 years old and overnight her mind is filled with a new set of emotions who attempt to navigate her through the next phase of her life, the dreaded puberty. Joy and the original emotions must help Riley as her new feelings of Anxiety, Ennui, Embarrassment and Envy slowly take over.
Inside Out (2015) is one of the most heartfelt and relatable movies Pixar have ever made, so its sequel had some incredibly big expectations to fill. In saying that, I was absolutely astounded by the creativity of this feature and instantly knew it was going to be an unforgettable watch. The structure was coherent and easy to follow whilst incorporating heavy themes of self doubt, loneliness and fear of the future. Inside Out 2 encounters some of the most monumental moments in a young adults life and I found their execution of more complex emotions to be relatable and meaningful for all audiences.
Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke) quickly asserts herself as the dominant emotion and had only good intentions for Riley’s future. Although, we quickly realise Anxiety’s methods are overwhelming and often uncontrollable, Anxiety acts on the idea of ‘what if’ and isn’t always rational. I thought Pixar embodied the idea of the emotion perfectly, making her a physical representation of stress. Most audience members can identity with the feeling of anxiety, the paralysing, isolating feeling of doubting yourself can leave you utterly helpless. Inside Out 2 (2024) spoke to all audiences and encouraged viewers to understand how anxiety manifests itself and I think they tackled this concept beautifully.
The only reason Inside Out 2 (2024) doesn’t receive a perfect score from Film Probe is the character of Envy, Envy was the only emotion which felt somewhat meaningless and unnecessary. I think Envy could have benefitted from being titled jealousy and provoking her feelings to be more forceful and direct, I found her character was the only one which needed more intention.
To conclude, Inside Out 2 (2024) was an emotional rollercoaster, I left the cinema with a full heart of joy and found the feature to be undeniably enjoyable, thought provoking and utterly magical. Pixar have done it again, they never fail to impress me.
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