Fear. Sadness. Joy.

These three core emotions are something we’ve all experienced, regardless of our age, and this begs the question: How do these feelings define who we are today?

Growing up can be especially hard, and navigating your emotions and thoughts isn’t an easy feat for anybody. When hormones and high-stress situations come into play, it just makes it even more difficult.

Pixar made this confusing time in everyone’s lives the focus of “Inside Out 2.” For teenagers in the audience at a recent screening, the sequel struck a chord.

The movie follows the main character, Riley, as she becomes a young teen. She navigates the hardships of becoming a high schooler, discovering her identity, and forming new relationships.

At the beginning of the film, the emotions face different challenges, one of which being new characters — Anxiety, Embarrassment, Envy, and Ennui — coming to play. The mature feelings represent Riley as she reaches the height of adolescence.

Newcomer Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke) is the main antagonist, who often clashed with Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler). Anxiety is portrayed very well, forcing out the “old” emotions — Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust, and clouding Riley’s mind with self-doubt and low self-esteem, while thinking that they were only doing what’s best for her. However, they seemed to do just the opposite, instead, breaking apart Riley’s relationships with her closest friends and diminishing her self-worth.

Farah Shahwan, an incoming freshman at Pearland High School in Texas, also recently watched the movie. Shahwan said the portrayal of Anxiety in the movie was relatable.

“I related to Anxiety the most when [they] realized they weren’t helping Riley,” Shahwan said. “I tend to not realize my own anxiety isn’t helping until it’s too late, so it was nice to see that represented in the media.”

Mya Anderson, a rising sophomore at Bellaire High School in Texas, also said the depiction of anxiety struck a chord, especially the depiction of a swirling panic attack.

“I felt sympathetic toward Anxiety, especially toward the end of the movie where she was in that storm of making decisions,” she said. “They couldn’t get themselves out of it, and that’s how anxiety is. It’s very hard to control, and I feel like that was a realistic depiction of Anxiety.”

However, Anxiety wasn’t the only new emotion that dominated the stage. Ennui (voiced by Adèle Exarchopoulos ) also made for a very interesting — or rather, uninteresting character. Ennui is French, translating to boredom. The personality demonstrated what it’s like during teenage years; apathetic and filled with boredom, always on the phone. With nothing else to do, either.

Two more emotions — Envy (Ayo Edebiri) and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) highlighted the movie, adding a comedic effect in certain scenes. Embarrassment caused Riley to become socially self-conscious and made her struggle to fit in. Embarrassment helped Riley gain valuable real-world experiences, not just horrible memories. Envy made Riley jealous of other people and made her self-confidence lower and insecurity increase. Though, Envy helped Riley understand what she wanted, and how she could achieve it. Together, these emotions dominate the teenage years relentlessly.

As the movie progressed, I liked how the director, Kelsey Mann, did a great job depicting each and every emotion within Riley. He did this with vivid imagery and relatable scenes. I also enjoyed the fact that the filmmakers didn’t only show the good parts, but the bad parts of pubescence, unlike some other Pixar movies. For example, at the end, Riley experienced a realistic panic attack where she struggled to breathe and could only rely on her senses to help her out of it. However, I didn’t like how fast-paced it was at the beginning. At times I couldn’t fully understand what was happening.

Don’t be afraid, though, “Inside Out 2” is a great movie for all ages — adults included. It doesn’t matter if you’re watching it for the first time: ‘Inside Out 2’ will provide you with passionate moments that will always be remembered.

–July 6, 2024–