Inside Out 2: an In-Depth Review

The news of Inside Out 2 coming out made old and new fans excited. Many were very excited for the new movie, and there were many theories on what type of plots and emotions would be made or brought back in the new movie.

On June 14th, 2024, the second Inside Out movie was officially released in theaters. Fans rushed to reserve tickets and get a head start in analyzing the plot of the movie.

There were many key points and new additions to this spectacular movie, so let’s break it down one by one.

Starting off strong, the entire old cast of emotions: Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear. As seen in the previous movie, they were the original emotions that inhabited Riley’s mind, and usually helped her to get through some scenarios that she encountered where she needed specific feelings.

However, there was an addition of four new emotions in the second movie, and it was clear as day as to why they appeared.

In the second movie, Riley, who began as a young girl, is now a teenager, who undergoes major changes in her life. If you are new to the Inside Out movies, Riley is a major character in Inside Out who exhibits the actions that the emotions choose to give to her. She is a normal girl who slowly becomes more relatable to other teens as she grows up. Similarly to other girls her age, she gets braces, goes through puberty, experiences anxiety, and has other changes that come and go due to her growing mindset.

Anxiety is the first emotion that is introduced. She has a lot of energy, talks at quick speeds, and zooms around the headquarters. In the movie, she states that while fear is being nervous about something happening in the present, anxiety gets nervous about the future and the events that could change depending on different factors.

Image: Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

Envy has wide eyes, looking around everywhere and longs for things that others have, as many girls Riley’s age feel. It is normal to want or long for things that others may have, as it may seem glorious in the eyes of someone who may have it.

Embarrassment was a shy character who first introduced himself awkwardly and with a sweaty palm. Although he appeared with the new emotions who tried to carry Riley on their own, Embarrassment always helped Sadness throughout the movie when she was caught in a rough situation. Having embarrassing situations that people just want to shove to the back of their mind is normal, so watching Embarrassment handle the awareness Riley showcased was easy to connect with and was well represented.

Lastly, Ennui, another word for boredom, appeared, laying down on the couch with a console, instead of making her way to the actual, physical console in front of the larger screen. As many teens begin to feel boredom within the small aspects of their life, and sometimes act bored to seem cool- Ennui is a perfect depiction of this, and it was very relatable to see a character such as her to appear in the new movie.

In the recent sequel, the main plot is showcasing all the new emotions Riley (and normal teens) go through and change over the sequence of years. Adolescence is the process from going from a child to an adult, and the change in feelings and actions of Riley can be shown to be similar to the anger break outs teens have with themselves on day to day scales.

As I sat in the movie theater, there were many scenes that produced immense laughter, and everyone chortled together at the hilarious jokes the movie laid in here and there. However, there were also scenes that brought tears, and the rumors of the movie being emotional was not fake news.

The new Inside Out movie turned out to master a rollercoaster of emotions, and specially highlighted the points of Riley’s puberty well. The struggles that teens go through as well could be properly seen as the authors made sure to make this movie relatable to teens of older ages.

In the movie, towards the beginning, the old emotions were kicked out of their headquarters for being too old and boring, which, according to Anxiety, were emotions that were too basic for Riley to need. These old emotions therefore had to find their way back to the headquarters without making the process noticeable to Anxiety, who had tried to lock them up in a vault.

Throughout the journey of the old emotions, Riley continues to go through many instances of anxiety, as Anxiety has very different beliefs from Joy. It is true that in certain cases, being on one’s tippy toes and bracing yourself for the worst can help anticipate the best results, but being so pessimistic did not bring Riley any help in the end.

The newest Inside Out movie was not complex and straightforward, which made the movie easy to understand. It was very well made and the stories behind how each of the new emotions acted and related Riley to viewers was thought of thoroughly and had a big impact on the audience.

Due to the in-depth research that was performed by the directors, creators, writers, animators, and the entire team who was behind the making of this movie, an amazing masterpiece was able to be produced and wow all the spectators.

Such a movie was able to brighten my weekend, and it makes watchers sit at the edge of their seats for future movies.