Inside Out 2 Review

Terrifying.

Absolutely terrifying.

I know my daughter is growing and changing, and I try my best to both understand that and work with it. But sometimes…sometimes she manages to push all the buttons. Anger takes controls of our consoles and it all blows up.

And there is the magic of both Inside Out and it’s sequel. I don’t really see it as a sequel, it’s more a continuation. All one story. The central conceit of these films, that anthropomorphized versions of our base emotions manage our responses, is amazing. It makes me think about how I deal with things and how I could do better.

Who has their hands on the controls right now? What can I do about it? With the sequel introducing extra, more complicated emotions, my thought process through the movie shifted and I looked inward. I then realised, halfway through a Pixar film, that what I often call stress is actually anxiety. Did not expect that.

And my goodness did Anxiety wind me up, which I think means it was perfect! They had by far the most screentime of the new emotions, though they all made sense and fit in well.

With a pleasingly lean ninety-six minute run time, Inside Out 2 doesn’t have to force itself to do more. Puberty is the logical step, even if the details are tackled only lightly. Inside Out 2 clearly makes a decision to now follow the crush/attraction side of things, and I’m cool with that. I enjoy how it bases it all around Riley’s relatively unique interest in Ice Hockey. It gives her the chance to encounter all the new emotions in a more interesting environment. Would have been very easy to set it in school.

We all enjoyed Inside Out 2. Different age groups will have their own takeaways. But there’s something here for everyone. We could all do with thinking about who is at the controls sometimes.

Nevertheless it is still a terrifying look into the next few years for me.

On a parting thought, I guess at least it didn’t focus on a boy.