As of this writing, so many people have seen that it’s not only the top-grossing movie of 2024, surpassing with the $724 million globally that it’s racked up so far — the also looks like it has a shot at entering the $1 billion club. I went to see it over the weekend, and the thing that surprised me was how thoughtfully it depicted the emotional cyclones of adolescence — driven by self-doubt, anxiety, panic attacks, and mood swings — in such a way that adult viewers who were at the theater with me were actually moved to tears. That is to say, is a movie that follows the best Pixar tradition of offering up bright colors, simple lessons, and whimsical characters aimed at children, while also delivering a profound emotional subtext for older viewers who might have emotional trauma of their own.
In this sequel to the 2015 original, Riley has just graduated middle school and once again finds herself wrestling with a mental health crisis. Whereas in the original movie, it was her family’s cross-country move that put her through the emotional wringer, this time, it’s a triple whammy of the onset of puberty (depicted by a literal wrecking ball destroying the control room in Riley’s brain), the loss of friendships, and the twin desires of wanting acceptance as well as an opportunity to excel. Joy, voiced by Amy Poehler, is once again the de facto “leader” of the team of emotions inside Riley, but — coinciding with Riley continuing to grow up — brings a new and .