Inside Out 2 review: It is an Animated Film where anxiety is the star of the show - A tween coming-of-age sounds anything but enticing for someone in their late-20s – who would want to live through the rough years of puberty again? – but when Disney and Pixar are both on the boat, and you have vague positive memories from the 2015 predecessor, it was worth a shot. Surprisingly, Inside Out 2 delivered on more than one front. Thirteen-year-old Riley (Kensington Tallman) has grown up to be a good kid and audiences are invited to celebrate her journey from the very start of the movie as the core emotions, Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Liza Lapira), Fear (Tony Hale) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith), go about their daily routine. Yet, even a kid like her can succumb to mood swings and peer pressure as puberty hits. Through Riley, we adults relive the little big things that mattered – friends, hobbies, interests and belonging. The core emotions experience a rude awakening when new roommates enter the picture – Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) and Ennui/Boredom (Adèle Exarchopoulos). They seek to take control over Riley’s sense of self as she steps into hockey camp with the excitement of new friendships and some tension in her old ones. Clocking at 96-minutes, Inside Out 2 is reasonably fast-paced without detracting from the core of the storytelling, though one critique might be that more depth could’ve been offered to the other characters. It’s clear that Anxiety is the star of the show, and she’s been treated with so much care and nuance that it’s hard to complain. While the temptation in many kids’ movies is to rule a definitive line between the ‘good guy’ and the ‘bad guy’, Inside Out 2 pushes that hard distinction out the door. Anxiety is the reason why this movie will strike a chord with adults, while allowing younger ones to develop their own emotive responses to what’s ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.
