The new Inside Out 2 movie came out June 14, 2024 and revisits the main character’s emotions she heads into her teenage years. 

The movie is about Riley Andersen and how her emotions change throughout her life. Her original emotions Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear, and Anger are met with the challenges of Riley’s new adolescent emotions brought on by puberty and the start of high school: Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui.

According to Forbes, Inside Out 2 is “the highest growing animated film in history.”  At the time of publication, the film had made $1.6 billion worldwide and nearly $700 million in the United States according to Box Office Mojo.

The cast members voicing the characters in Inside Out 2 are Maya Hawke (who was Anxiety), Adèle Exarchopoulos(who was Enu), Ayo Edebiri (who played Envy), Paul Walter Hauser (who played embarrassment), and Tony Hale (who played Fear).  These voice actors added to the previus and returning cast of Amy Poehler (Joy), Liza Lapira (Disgust), Phyllis Smith (Sadness), and Lewis Black (Anger).

The Inside Out 2 movie teaches several good lessons–that it’s okay to feel a certain way and that every emotion serves a purpose. In the movie, Joy says “I don’t know how to stop Anxiety. Maybe we can’t. Maybe this is what happens when you grow up. You feel less joy.”

Anxiety is one of the main emotions featured in the sequel. In one important scene, when Anxiety takes over, Riley’s mind spins like a tornado and then freezes. Towards the end of the movie, Anxiety controls Riley during her hockey game as she tries to make the team. Riley’s anxiety is so high she doesn’t even notice what she’s doing. Then Joy jumps into the control table, which Anxiety had locked, and gets Anxiety to let go and let Riley do it on her own. Anxiety tells Joy that she can’t let go. And Joy says, “Let go. Let Riley be Riley”–a message seen in the first Inside Out film and a reminder that our emotions are an important part of what makes us who we are.

People enjoyed this movie because many have felt struggles with anxiety and could relate to the idea of emotions changing and getting more complicated as they grow up.