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Nearly a decade after the original film’s release, Pixar dusted off its old archives to satisfy fans’ long-anticipated craving with a sequel to Inside Out. Revisiting Riley’s mind as she enters her teenage years, Inside Out 2 traverses through the tumultuous chaos of adolescence in Pixar’s signature animated style.

For me, watching Inside Out 2 was a happy accident — an aftermath of a spontaneous outing with friends that landed us in a children’s cinema after exhausting all other options. As someone oblivious to the first film’s plot, I anticipated a light children’s animated film but was pleasantly surprised when it ended up echoing some of my inner thoughts aloud.

It was simultaneously unsettling and reassuring to see my inner dialogues mirrored on screen, handled with surprising depth by the film, turning a children’s entertainer into a serendipitous therapy session.

The emotions in your head — now animated!

If you’ve been living in a cave or thought animated kids’ films were too cool for you, let me catch you up. Inside Out dives into the life of Riley (Kensington Tallman), where her emotions Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Liza Lapira) call the shots.

Now, in Inside Out 2, all chaos breaks loose as Riley hits puberty, bringing in new emotions like Anxiety (Maya Hawke), the supposed troublemaker and antagonist, alongside Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), and Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos)—the laid-back and savage one, who became my personal favourite. Even Nostalgia (June Squibb) made a cameo, teasing a future return.

The visual representation of emotions, peppered with suspense and humour, created an instant connection with the audience. From a psychoanalytic viewpoint, these new emotions sketch the complex interplay between Riley’s id, ego, and superego.

Riley, grappling with fresh social and personal challenges after discovering that her best friends from middle school will be switching schools, tries to do damage control by making new friends in a social group. She also attempts to befriend the popular Valentina Ortiz (Lilimar Hernandez) during her hockey camp.

The raw depiction of Riley’s panic at the thought of being left alone, her attempts to achieve self-affirmation through the eyes of others, and her fear-driven behaviour to avoid loneliness highlight the intense social pressures felt by teenagers and adults alike. This was a crucial theme to identify and discuss through Riley’s lens as it truly makes viewers think. Riley’s journey of self-affirmation and character development conveys to the audience that it is okay to make mistakes and strive towards self-improvement.

Anxiety speaks for us all

The nervously twitchy, carrot-coloured character called Anxiety takes centre stage in the film, playing the antagonist for most of the film. However, the supposed antagonist is perhaps the most relatable character.

The fastidious dialogues elicit knowing chuckles from viewers across different age groups. As a Gen-Z viewer, I found myself nodding in recognition and exchanging knowing glances with my friends as anxiety’s rapid scenarios mirrored our shared experiences of striving for acceptance and success. Similarly, nearby Gen-Alpha kids giggled with delight, showing how the film connects generations through its authentic portrayal of emotional struggles.

Surrounded by the chaos and confusion, the film provides a sincere sense of validation. Anxiety’s dialogues offer comfort as it fabricates scenarios, amplifying Riley’s pre-match anxiety and her struggle to maintain friendships while losing her true self in pursuit of validation from others. This reassures viewers that these inner voices are normal and are universally understood and shared.

As Inside Out 2 reaches its conclusion, it emphasises the importance of accepting and embracing emotions that are considered negative, alongside those that bring happiness, as they together form our true selves.

While the inner struggle is as real as it gets, the film, through its engaging narrative and empathetic approach, emphasises that the most important part is listening to and acknowledging the inner battle unfolding in our heads.

Another subtle idea the film touches upon is how adults are impacted by their children’s reactions, and how the entire experience of seeing them grow up is a novel concept to them as well. When Riley erupts in anger towards her mother and storms out, we glimpse the mother’s emotional response, as one emotion remarks, “Well, that’s a preview of the next ten years.” This beautifully depicted that it’s okay for parents to feel overwhelmed during the entire process as well as the need to cut them some slack.

Perhaps the only idea the filmmakers conveniently sidestep is Riley’s experience with teenage crushes, however, we can overlook this in anticipation of a potential sequel that explores an array of diverse emotions with added layers.

All in all, Inside Out 2 turned out to be a truly memorable and insightful watch for me. It’s like an affordable therapy session with a side of laughter, perfect for anyone seeking some emotional clarity and a good chuckle.