Michael Dayvid

If the mark of a good movie is one that you think about and discuss with your friends long afterward, the mark of a great movie is one that helps you understand yourself and the people around you. Every 10 years or so I do a Pixar marathon and watch all their films. Inside Out is absolutely the one that consistently makes me cry the hardest (even more than Toy Story 3!!!) and gives the clearest, most tangible life lessons - the incredibly potent and accessible language around emotion, cognition, and general behavioral psychology is something filmmakers and storytellers should aspire to. And Inside Out 2 f^$&ing topped its predecessor. While the world inside the main character didn't expand all that dramatically (we don't visit as many strange and interesting places in the mind), meeting new emotions and seeing how they interact with each other to influence a person's behavior is invaluable. But for me, the most powerful aspect of this story is the exploration of how our experiences become memories, our memories become beliefs, and our beliefs become our sense of self. The visual representations of beliefs and the narrative centrality of self-image (with all its impacts on behavior) have literally changed the way I view my life, inspiring me and giving me language for learning more about myself and improving the messages I hold onto. If you want to change your life, a Pixar movie is a pretty good place to start. Highest Recommendation.