Movie Review: Inside Out Two
July 5, 2024
I am going to just come out and say it right away - I loved it. I felt so seen by this movie, and loved the addition of new emotions.
this review will have spoilers, proceed with caution
Anxiety was such a wonderful addition, and so sweet to be able to see the way that Anxiety is trying to protect Riley and keep her safe both physically and emotionally. I really loved the way that she was presented, not as a bad emotion, but one that should not be running the show. This is something I have so loved that these movies have done - making sure it is known that none of these emotions are bad, but that they each have their time and place and are needed to make a well rounded Riley. I grew up feeling like there were for sure bad emotions - Sadness and Anger were for sure bad, Envy was a middle and Joy was really the only good emotion. I think these movies have so much to give and so much to learn from, not only for children, but for adults too.
While Riley was being controlled by Anxiety, you can see that she is having a panic attack, and Eli pointed out to me, that she is using grounding techniques. She is touching the space around her, she is tapping her forehead, she is taking deep breaths; all while she is trying to recenter herself and calm down the emotions that are running rampart inside her.
There is a moment that Joy is starting to feel hopeless about getting Riley’s sense of self back to her ( which, I must argue sometimes takes years, not just a weekend, but I will talk about that later) she has a quote that had me instantly in tears “Maybe that’s what happens when you grow up, you feel less Joy.” I am getting emotional just while writing this…woof. I think the reason that this really tugged on my heartstrings is because of my Nostalgia (which arrived not the scene when I was Riley’s age due to the fact that I moved schools right before my freshman year, and everything I knew about friend groups and social structure felt like it was being turned on it’s head. I missed the people that I had spent so many formative years with, and saw the friendships that I had spent so much time building, crumbling around me. In the movie they say something about how Nostalgia was years early and she needed at least one best friends weddings before she was to arrive on the scene, but she arrived much earlier for me, and I feel like she often is running the show.) being my head emotion lately.
The theme of friendship and coming-of-age/growing up is often a favorite of mine, but this one really stood out.
I will say, like I mentioned earlier, there are a couple things that I felt were a little off. I know for the sake of the movie, they couldn’t have her finding herself take years, but I for sure did not get to have my core sense of self until many years after middle school. Another thing I had a little bit of an issue with, was the fact that Nostalgia wasn’t more of a real part of the movie. Like I said earlier, it might be more of a me thing, but I felt a lot of nostalgia at that age.
Overall, this is a must see and I highly suggest it.
