If you’re looking for a film to watch this weekend, look no further than Inside Out 2. (If you haven’t seen the original Inside Out yet, start there).
The Inside Out films are fun and genuinely entertaining for viewers of all ages but also informative and relatable. Inside Out tells the story of main character Riley’s life as an elementary school student. However, instead of seeing Riley from the outside, viewers are shown Riley’s life from the inside perspective of her emotions, namely Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who are the main protagonists in the film. Without giving away too many spoilers, Inside Out 2 introduces four new emotions as Riley reaches puberty and is about to head to high school. These new characters are Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment and Ennui (boredom).
The Inside Out films demonstrate actual brain science in a fresh way. Psychologist Dr. Lisa Damour, who served as a science advisor to the film said on a recent podcast “What Pixar wanted was to get the details right about adolescent development and the emotional landscape of teenagers." You can listen to the full podcast here:
https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/inside-out-2-and-the-psychology-behind-teenage-angst/Back in September, the Phase team watched Inside Out 2 together on our start-of-term retreat. We had some great discussions about the insight and perspective the film provided on the teenage brain.
Both films do a great job of demonstrating why all of our emotions, even those we often refer to as negative or difficult, play an important role in our life and development. At Phase, we often say all emotions are normal, helpful and important. Inside Out reiterates this message; each character cares about Riley and tries to look after her wellbeing in their own unique way. Moreover, the second film does a great job of demonstrating just how drastic and ‘overnight’ the changes of puberty really are. There are some great insights into the teenage brain, including how extreme teenage emotions are. When the original five characters are given a new set of controls in Riley’s brain, every button they touch leads to a dramatic response.
Anyway, before I give away the entire film, go and check it out for yourself and let us know what you think! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did :)
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