Review: Inside Out

Inside Out is one of the best films of 2015 - hands down. If you only read this much of the review I urge you to go watch it. Prepare to laugh, cry, reminisce, cry and cry some more for all the right reasons.

The film is about a little girl named Riley and her five emotions that live in her head: Fear, Disgust, Anger, Sadness and Joy where they operate Riley's emotional control centre. Joy is the designated leader of the group who always wants to keep Riley happy. When Riley's family move from Minnesota to San Francisco Sadness begins interfering with the control centre and unintentionally gets herself and Joy sucked out of the control centre to the endless expanse of Riley's memories.

The two go on a road trip to return to Riley's control centre having to work together as total opposites. Meanwhile the remaining three emotions try desperately keeping Riley happy only dig them deeper into a hole.

The premise of emotions or characters controlling your head is nothing new (e.g. Herman's Head, Meet Dave) but the execution here is sublime. The voice casting is perfect with Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) as Joy, Phyllis Smith (The Office) as Sadness, John Hader (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) as Fear, Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project) as Disgust and Lewis Black as Anger. All of them nailing their parts and contributing to this highly conceptual and beautifully told story of a girl experiencing depression for the first time and how she deals with it.

Riley's childhood is one of a happy, hockey fanatic who loves goofing around with her adoring friends and family. The move to San Francisco changes all that, losing her hockey team and friends; even her parents are busy with new work or dealing with moving matters. On top of all this Joy and Sadness are AWOL and without them it is clear that Riley will keep spiralling into a deeper depression.

Their journey poignantly explores why sadness is crucial for a healthy emotional balance – not just happiness. Throughout the film we see a glimpse into supporting characters emotional control centre to hilarious effect. It also shows that Riley's mother and father are not led by their Joy but either by their respective Sadness or Anger. This made me reflect on my own emotions and how I cope when times are tough. Who commands my emotional control centre? Who commands yours?

The film also uses psychological language when exploring Riley's mind, which adults will find hilarious, which also serves to educate somewhat. Children will still love it because it is extremely colourful.

Riley's journey is so relatable and she is such a well rounded character that you genuinely feel heartbroken when she does. This is a film that speaks to everyone young or old. Pixar are truly the masters of storytelling, outdoing themselves with this indelible film. Be sure to catch the short animated film 'Lava' before the feature film because it is visually gorgeous however not their best.

Inside Out gets 4.5 out of 5 stars.

#film #review #insideout