Riley just hit her teenage years, and it’s all about braces, restless nights, and suddenly getting snarky with her parents. She’s feeling a little lost thanks to puberty and the news that her best pals, Grace and Bree, will be attending a different high school come fall. For now, though, they’re all headed off to a three-day hockey camp. There, Riley hopes to fit in with a new group so she won’t end up alone.

This new gang boasts some older hockey players who initially see Riley as just a weak rookie—except for Viv, the team leader. Viv decides to help Riley out and take her under her wing. But as Riley is trying to navigate all these intense teenage feelings, there are some new emotions crashing into the control room of her mind: Ennui, Envy, Embarrassment—and most of all—Anxiety; each one threatening to mess up the harmony Joy had been working so hard to maintain.

Following up Inside Out was no easy feat; that film brilliantly brought human emotions into the spotlight in such a simple yet powerful way during childhood. Inside Out 2 does something equally cool: it digs into how Riley grows up—a character inspired by Pete Docter’s own daughter—and handles this next phase of life.
Alright, so this time around, instead of just being an executive producer, the script’s written by Meg LeFauve—she also worked on Inside Out—plus Dave Holstein. The story came from LeFauve and Kelsey Mann, who’s been a longtime Pixar animator and is now trying his hand at directing for the first time. So basically, if you were a kid when the first movie came out and you’re a teen now, it’d be like growing up with it, kinda like how people grew up with Harry Potter.

Now here’s what’s cool about this sequel: it totally flips the whole concept from before. You know how in Inside Out it felt like our emotions had us all locked down, controlling us from the inside? That could get a bit overwhelming after a while—like those little emotional folks calling all the shots in our heads can make you feel trapped sometimes.

But Inside Out 2 takes things in a new direction. Instead of each emotion acting all independently (because where’s the fun if they aren’t dramatic?), they’re working more together this time. And there are some fresh emotions thrown into the mix too! That’s what being a teen is often about—feeling like you need to change who you are to fit in or worrying if you’re really enough for everyone around you who’s not just your parents or old pals.

In short, Inside Out 2 nails that feeling we’ve all had at some point while growing up!
Inside Out 2 dives into the emotional chaos that teenagers go through. They’re often torn between feeling not good enough and using sarcasm to hide their insecurities. While the first movie embraced all emotions, this one calls out anxiety as a pretty useless way to deal with life’s ups and downs.

What’s cool is that it also questions America’s never-give-up attitude, symbolized by Joy. The movie suggests it’s okay to embrace less positive feelings but without losing hope in yourself. In the end, it’s all about being able to think and act for yourself, owning up to what you do, and accepting your limitations. Riley needs to learn how to handle her inner conflicts on her own terms; all those emotions are valid but shouldn’t be in charge.

Mann’s direction might not be as flashy or gut-wrenching as Docter’s from the first film, but the story builds up the feels really well. Parents who recognize their teens’ struggles might find themselves getting teary-eyed by the end. It’s a bummer though that characters like Ennui (perfectly voiced by Deva Cassel) and Embarrassment didn’t get more spotlight since they’re key parts of teen life too.
The comedy duo had so much potential to be hilarious together, but they kinda missed the mark on that. Also, the character Envy didn’t really feel all that envious, you know? It was like they just didn’t dig deep enough into the role.