The first Inside Out movie did an amazing job demonstrating Riley’s thoughts, memories, and emotions, so what was the need to make a new one? When it comes to sequels, it is almost common knowledge that they fail to obtain the high expectations people have based on the first movie. Surprisingly, Inside Out 2 proved that this is not always true.

The movie opens by revisiting Riley and her emotions, explaining her life after the previous film. Soon, the movie introduces us to some new emotions: anxiety, envy, embarrassment, boredom, and nostalgia- all emotions you start to develop and feel more with maturity. Unlike the first, being targets younger audiences, Inside Out 2 grows more with the ones who watched the film before, attracting an older audience. Junior Jacobo Moreno felt similar to my point, noting that “it was a really good movie given that they waited a few years for [the audience] to grow and launch a movie that they can reflect on….”

Inside Out 2 truly shows the feeling that anxiety takes over and controls one’s life. Most start to develop harsher anxiety with age, relating and getting the viewers to understand and relate to the complexity of the situation. The film’s portrayal of anxiety as a contributing emotion, and not as a negative force, keeps the idea that feelings are all useful, and none are necessarily bad.

This sequel does suffer from a loss of originality though. The main point of the first film was to show the use and importance of all emotions. Similarly, this movie expands exactly on that, only with different and more complex emotions. Somehow, this did not make the movie any less entertaining or meaningful and brought back many feelings of nostalgia and excitement. Most think of anxiety as a normal emotion, similar to stress, but the movie shows it on a deeper, more enriching level that not many films like to elaborate on. Making up for most of its repetitive nature is the complex understanding and relatability the film presents us with, allowing a truly incredible film.

In summary, I believe Inside Out 2 builds on the original’s ideals more maturely. The exploration of how and what emotions contribute offers valuable insight to help the viewers fully appreciate the spectrum of emotions we all have. This sequel successfully demonstrates what it was planned to accomplish, and shows that maybe not all sequels are as bad as we expect them to be.