Inside Out
Inside Out
When 11-year-old Riley moves to a new city, her Emotions team up to help her through the transition. Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness work together, but when Joy and Sadness get lost, they must journey through unfamiliar places to get back home.
Manuel Frangis reviewedApril 8, 2025
I just rewatched Inside Out, and I give it 5 out of 5 stars. When I first saw this movie, I was just a kid. I thought it was funny and colorful and full of weird little characters running around inside someone’s head. I liked the goofy moments, the energy, and how the emotions all had different personalities. But now, watching it again as I have gotten older, I see it in a whole new way. This movie is way deeper than I ever realized. It is not just about feelings. It is about life, change, growing up, and how time is more precious than we think. That is honestly the biggest thing I took from it this time—how fast everything moves and how much even the small moments matter.
The story takes place inside the mind of a young girl named Riley, and the emotions inside her head—Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust—are the stars of the movie. When I was little, I saw it as Joy being the best one and Sadness messing everything up. But now, I get that the movie is showing how every emotion matters and how even the ones that feel heavy are part of what makes life real. That hit me hard this time around.
The voice acting is great. Amy Poehler as Joy brings so much energy, and Phyllis Smith as Sadness is honestly perfect. She makes the character feel so real and relatable. The way the emotions work together and fall apart feels like a reflection of real life, especially during times when everything feels confusing or overwhelming. And that is exactly what the movie captures—how growing up means dealing with change, letting go, and learning how to handle feelings that do not always make sense.
The animation still looks incredible. Everything inside Riley’s mind is so creative, from the glowing memory orbs to the different islands that represent her personality. Even the way dreams and imagination are shown is really smart and fun. But beyond the style, what really sticks is how emotional the movie becomes. It sneaks up on you. One minute you are laughing at a joke about broccoli pizza, and the next you are just sitting there feeling all kinds of things you did not expect.
Watching it now, the message that hit me the most was how time moves fast and how important every moment really is. There are parts of the movie that made me think about my own childhood and how much has changed. The people, the places, the routines. Sometimes you do not even notice those changes until they are already gone. Inside Out reminded me that even the memories that make you sad can still be beautiful because they are part of who you are. It is one of those rare movies that really makes you look back and appreciate everything, even the stuff you did not understand at the time.
I give Inside Out 5 out of 5 stars because it is one of the smartest and most emotional animated movies ever made. It helped me realize that growing up is not about being happy all the time. It is about learning to feel everything and being okay with that. Overall Inside Out is a movie I loved as a little kid and now appreciate even more as I have grown up. It is about memories, emotions, and how every second of life matters more than we realize. Time is precious, and this movie helped me see that more clearly than ever.