Movie Review – Inside Out

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2015 – Disney-Pixar – Spoiler alerts The 4th movie in the One In Four free festival of mental health movies, and the second today, after this afternoon’s matinee screening of Up. (also a Pixar animation). Inside Out shows the conflicted team work of a pre-teenage girl’s inner emotions, Anger, Disgust Fear, Sadness and a rather domineering Joy who tries to prevent the others, especially sorrow, from guiding the girl, Riley through life. Matters reach a head when the family move from Minnesota to San Francisco, tearing Riley from her comfortable childhood life of Riley to a new city, a dilapidated house, unfurnished as the family furniture is lost in transit. At her new school, Riley cries in front of the other children and becomes increasingly moody, until she eventually finds a need to run away from home, hoping to recapture the happiness of her past by returning to Minnesota with money stolen from her Mum. Riley’s turmoil is caused and has a counter cause back on Joy and Sadness who find themselves trapped in a series of disintegrating happy memories, as the other emotions struggle to guide Riley without their strongest allies. Ultimately, Joy will learn that sorrow has to save the day and be accepted in the team as well. In working together, the team restore Riley to emotional stability but with many changes to her perception of her past as happy moments are tinged with sadness. A lovey, highly inventive film, created with support from many leading psychologists, creating believable characters in the external world. Perhaps we could have seen the other emotions and minor characters like Bing-Bong, the doomed imaginary friend of Riley’s forgotten formative years, but otherwise a movie that clearly hits all the right chords. Many in the audience related to experiencing the imbalances caused by one emotion blocking out all others in their lives during a very good question and answer session. Arthur Chappell