Director Kelsey Mann’s Inside Out 2 follows 13-year-old Riley (now voiced by funny authentic Kensington Tallman) from Pete Docter and Ronnie Del Carman’s Inside Out. In the screenplay by Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein from the story by Kelsey and Meg, Riley enters puberty, along with that comes a whole new slew of emotions: Anxiety (voiced by frenetic Maya Hawke), Disgust (Liza Lapira), Ennui (voiced by Adele Exarchopoulos) who is teen apathy, and my favorite Embarrassment (John Wick-like voiced by Paul Walter Hauser).
Anxiety usurps control of teen Riley from Joy (voiced by radiantly funny Amy Poehler) and her crew that includes Fear (voiced by Tony Hale), Anger (voiced by funny Lewis Black), my favorite Sadness (sublimely voiced by Phyllis Smith), and Envy (voiced by Ayo Edebiri). Anxiety literally bottles up Joy and the old emotions banishing them to the back recesses of Riley’s mind. Much like what Joy did in discarding Riley’s bad memories to the back to retain Riley’s Sense of Self, embodied in a crystal sculpture
Riley with Anxiety at the helm goes to Hockey Summer Camp with her BFFs, Grace (voiced by Grace Lu) and Bree (voiced by Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green). However, it’s bittersweet when Riley learns that Grace and Bree are going to a different high school next fall.
At Hockey Camp, Riley meets her hero Fire Hawks star player Val (voiced with subtle self-absorb by Lilimar). Val asks Riley if she’s from Michigan. Trying to be cool, Riley, who’s from Minnesota, says, “Yeah.” Riley sells out to be cool. She also sells out on Grace and Bree, to their disbelief. Joy too, is shocked by this Riley under Anxiety’s watch.
The computer animation in Inside Out 2 is visually stunning and vibrant. Even the human characters are strangely human. The memory spheres in Riley’s mind are spectacular in detail. There’s much ado surrounding the chaos and frenzy as Joy and her Emotions make their way back to Riley’s controls. Still, this craziness is this just adolescence, what we all go through. We usually make it through for the most part.
Kelsey and Meg’s poignant narrative guides Joy in discovering that both good and bad memories make Riley, who she is. They define her next Sense of Self. The late NBA Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant said, “Failure excites me.” When he failed, when he lost, that gave him what to work on next. He invented his greater Sense of Self.
Kelsey and Meg touchingly illustrate that even the seemingly bad emotions can make a difference. Paul Walter Hauser’s Embarrassment helps Sadness find Anxiety in the Control Room. In the bigger picture, he saves Riley. Embarrassment can either diminish or make us greater-than we know. It’s a choice.
In the narrative arc, Riley violently hurts Grace in a hockey game obsessed to prove herself. With Anxiety in control, “I’m not good enough” is now the voice in Riley’s head. That was the voice in my head when I was a teen, as well. That profoundly landed for me. Riley’s actions are not who she is or who she was. Joy touchingly tells Anxiety, “You have to let Riley go.”
Anxiety says, “I’m only trying to protect her from the future!” Perhaps. But the past is in the past. And the future hasn’t happened yet. There is no anxiety when we’re present in the moment. There is only the present, only now.
Sadness poignantly tells Joy, “She (Riley) wants you.” Riley freely skates on the ice looking for her open shot. Joy smiles brightly. Riley loves playing hockey. Like I love training in Aikido. We’re never more alive than when we do what we love. We’re never more present. That’s when Joy is present, too.
At times, Inside Out 2 is messy with too many Emotions, well kind of. Still, Inside Out 2 is about being present in the moment, present in life, being open to joy. That makes Inside Out 2 something very special, too.
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This Post is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: Inside Out 2, Disney
