Turning Red [2022]
“The farther you go, the prouder I'll be.”
Turning Red is the most daring, meaningful, and important film that Pixar has ever made.
It’s deep, engaging, surprisingly profound, and tactful in a way that I feel confident in saying no animated film before has been. I am genuinely shocked that Disney put their name on this, because it truly has something to say.
If every film [not to mention animated film] was of half the quality that 2022’s Turning Red is, you wouldn’t need film reviewers anymore. They’d all just be good and we wouldn’t end up with half-baked attempts at representation, tackling tough topics, and normalizing things everybody experiences. We’d be able to enjoy profound and meaningful adventures that have substance and bite while still being fun, genuinely funny, full of likable and believable characters, and not only suitable for all ages, but important for all ages.
I haven’t been moved by an animated film the way that Turning Red moved me since my re-watch of Monster’s Inc after experiencing what it’s like to actually raise and love a child. The film is not sad or tragic, and yet… the final lines of the film drew tears from the sheer immensity of their importance, and the journey that preceded them. While I wish the narrative had taken a very slightly different direction near the end, this was nearly a perfect experience, and one that I won’t soon forget.
I absolutely loved this film, and I feel confident that you will as well.
Turning Red is a fantastical journey about not only accepting who you are, but accepting that becoming who you are isn’t always as easy as putting on your favorite shirt and tuning out people that disagree with you. Sometimes, along the way, things get messy. Sometimes people mean the best for us… but don’t see that they’re causing us harm. Sometimes a strong face and an attitude hides a greater need for acceptance in a world that still has barriers and expectations to things that no one should be judged for. More than the message of “do what you want and forget the haters” that some films like this have, Turning Red dares you to be brave, especially to those that you love. It challenges you to love not only yourself, but what it took to become yourself. And it reminds us that,
“We've all got a messy, loud, weird part of ourselves hidden away. And… a lot of us never let it out. But I did... How about you?”
