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In 2015’s Inside Out, Pixar went inside the mind of a young girl who was struggling with her emotions while making a move across the country. But in Inside Out 2, all bets are off as all new emotions battle for control of her teenage brain.
Inside Out 2 finds 13-year-old Riley (voiced by Kensington Tallman) facing all new emotional challenges when puberty hits, causing chaos for Joy (Amy Poehler) and the others at Headquarters. Just as Riley is leaving for a hockey camp that could get her a place on the high school’s team, a whole bunch of new emotions move in, led by Anxiety (Maya Hawk), who locks Joy and the others away and begins rebuilding Riley’s Sense of Self. And as everything spins out of control at hockey camp, Joy sets out to bring back the old Riley.
Just when everything seemed to be working relatively smoothly for Riley’s emotions, puberty causes the control board to go haywire—and it couldn’t happen at a worse time. The Sense of Self that Riley has built through the years gets tossed out as Anxiety takes her place at the controls—and, as is the case for every teenager who’s ever lived, everything turns into one big, messy, emotional rollercoaster.
Meanwhile, Joy and the others end up on another adventure through the changing landscape of Riley’s mind with some characters from her past. It all feels familiar, but it’s as charming and clever and meaningful—not to mention as beautifully animated—as ever.
Most importantly, though, as was the case in the first Inside Out, the sequel doesn’t just simplify teenage Riley’s emotional experience, expecting Joy to be the one in control. And though Joy fights to make Riley’s life as happy and carefree as possible, she has to learn that all of the other emotions have an important role to play, too. It’s okay to be sad sometimes—and things like fear and disgust and embarrassment and even anxiety can help us avoid harmful situations. Admittedly, the message here is similar to that of the original film—but, in a time when social media teaches us that we’re supposed to be happy and perfect all day, every day, it’s a message that’s worth repeating.
So much of Inside Out 2 feels familiar—from the message to the characters’ adventures. But as teenage Riley’s mind becomes crowded with more conflicting emotions, it makes for an engaging and affecting experience—one that will help preteens start to understand what’s going on inside their changing brains.
You can meet all of Riley’s new emotions when Inside Out 2 arrives in theaters on June 14, 2024.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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