Ever wondered what it’d be like to be one of the high-profile members of society who don’t get anxiety? I like to think of them as the peaceful elite… or one of those reptilian aliens pretending to be humans. If you are one of those people, well, what gives?
Inside Out 2 is all the more human than its first instalment, with Anxiety and posse joining the emotional cacophony inside the brain of Riley Andersen. As a now-teenage Riley learns that her two best friends are moving to a different high school, we watch her cave to jealousy, borderline bullying, and more, all thanks to the puberty-induced Anxiety who topples the peace of Joy and gang. But, in Inside Out fashion, we’re allowed to experience what would otherwise be a very ordinary high-schooler film plot with a whole new dimension of understanding and relatability.
When the first Inside Out film was released, it was a fiercely fresh, tear-jerking soliloquy marking the end of childhood. Somewhere in the Pixar think tank, someone had thought up the perfect way to visualise our emotional journeys, no matter how seemingly irrational someone might appear.
This second iteration, the feature directorial debut of Kelsey Mann, doesn’t organically bring the element of astounding creativity that Inside Out had – and it doesn’t need to. But it certainly doesn’t disappoint, instead taking on some new challenges that echo the struggles of living in an increasingly conflicted world. And it reminds us of the beauty and difficulty of being human instead of a reptilian alien.
Anxiety, portrayed by Maya Hawke, is endearing and frustrating all the same. Many will feel validated and touched watching how Anxiety is depicted, as a desperate storm that cannot stop running because she fears what will happen if she does. The film cradles us amid the human tendency to gaslight ourselves when we experience emotions such as debilitating anxiety.
We also witness how Embarrassment, Envy, and more manifest with a never-ending ripple effect in Riley’s growing mind. What initially appears to be a battle between bad emotions and good emotions (who’ve been banished) becomes a delicate and wonderful balance of self. Humour takes a different brand, with tongue-in-cheek references to Dora the Explorer and more vividly depicting the workings of a growing Riley’s mind.
At times, it feels as though Inside Out 2 has bitten off more than It can chew, with some gags materialising as less than razor-sharp, and some sequences lasting a tad too long. Maya Hawke as Anxiety, Amy Poehler as Joy, and Phyllis Laplin as Sadness carry the film, and some characters who’ve seen a change in the cast don’t quite have the presence they could have.
Inside Out 2 feels like it’s missing a sprinkling of Pixar’s trademark magic, but not because it lacks the piercing qualities of the first film. Our journey with Riley is new territory, challenging us to be patient with our darker sides to feel less fearful of our true selves. Here’s to being less anxious about being anxious.
Inside Out 2 is out now in all theatres.