Thirteen-year-old Riley Andersen is growing up. Having transitioned smoothly from the emotional turbulence of childhood (as seen in Inside Out), she’s now thriving in middle school, loving hockey, and preparing to attend an elite summer hockey camp. Things appear stable in her life and inside her mind, the original emotions; Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust have established a more cooperative, balanced rhythm.
At Headquarters (Riley’s emotional control center), Joy remains the informal leader, proudly maintaining Riley’s Sense of Self, a glowing golden orb made up of Riley’s happiest core memories and self-beliefs like “I’m a good friend” and “I’m a hockey player.” The other emotions respect this fragile identity, and together they try to preserve it.
Read also: SNEAKS – ADVENTURE ANIMATION REVIEW
However, things begin to change overnight.
During a startling system upgrade triggered by puberty, Headquarters gets literally bulldozed. In the middle of the night, a massive construction crew appears, bringing in blinking buttons, new hallways, and more complicated emotion-processing stations. Among the dust and debris emerge four new emotions, each representing a unique challenge of adolescence; Anxiety, Envy, Ennui and Embarrassment. Joy and the others are initially confused but welcome the new emotions with cautious optimism until Anxiety takes control.
With the high-stakes summer hockey camp looming, Riley is introduced to Valentina “Val” Ortiz, a cool, older player whom she instantly admires and wants to befriend. Val becomes a symbol of the “new Riley” that Anxiety believes Riley should become to be successful: more assertive, less clingy to her old friends, and far more “grown-up.”
Read also: THE ACCOUNTANT 2 – ACTION MOVIE REVIEW
Anxiety, believing she’s doing what’s best for Riley, takes over Headquarters. She argues that Joy’s optimism and old sense of self are holding Riley back from achieving her full potential. In a drastic move, she bottles up the original emotions Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust and exiles them into the back of Riley’s mind.
Thus begins an emotional odyssey. The original emotions journey through the far reaches of Riley’s consciousness, which has expanded and matured since childhood. Along the way, they visit several parts of her mind, as they travel, Joy begins to confront some difficult truths. She’s spent so long trying to protect Riley’s happiness that she’s overlooked how complex emotions can coexist and that shielding Riley from sadness or anxiety might actually be preventing her from growing up.
Read also: DEEP COVER – LATEST ACTION COMEDY MOVIE
Things gets messy as anxiety begins to lose control. Her plan backfires as Riley suffers an emotional overload, spiraling into a panic attack during a critical team drill. Anxiety freezes. She’s not prepared to handle real chaos only the imagined kind.
Just in time, Joy and the other emotions make it back to Headquarters. They confront Anxiety, not with anger, but with understanding. Joy hugs her, acknowledging that all emotions even the difficult ones have value.
They work together to stabilize Riley’s mind, helping her reflect, apologize to her friends, and come to terms with who she is becoming. Riley returns to the ice and finds strength not by imitating Val or suppressing her feelings but by embracing the full spectrum of her identity, including vulnerability.
Read also: STRAW – LATEST NETFLIX PSYCHOLOGICAL DRAMA
Directed by:Kelsey Mann
Voice Cast: Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Tony Hale, Liza Lapira, Ayo Edebiri, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Paul Walter Hauser, Kensington Tallman, Diane Lane & Kyle MacLachlan
Runtime: 96 minutes
Watch Official Inside Out 2 Trailer
