Mikayla Wong

(contains some spoilers) Right off the bat, this movie is INCREDIBLE. The characters, the story, the colours and the representation. It's AMAZING. Cheers to the team who worked on this masterpiece of a movie. All of the characters are completely loveable and are greatly written, especially Anxiety who is voiced by Maya Hawke, I couldn't think of a better choice than her! While I sat in the movie theatre watching this movie, I could feel Riley in some aspects as me. Trying to fit in with the "cooler kids" by changing myself to having panic attacks. As an aspiring psychologist, I just have to say how incredible they protrayed Riley's panic attack both inside and outside with Anxiety running around. Hyperventalating, sweating, uneasiness, these are all great components that teach younger audiences and even older audiences about panic attacks! I also don't know if this was intentional or not, but the flooding of bad memories into Riley's mind during her panic attack was on point. With this movie, I felt so seen and heard. I could see myself in Riley and that's what I think is so great about this movie. It clearly represents some audience members who deal with the type of things Riley does as well. Sometimes we can think we are not good enough, like Riley felt but the movie also reminds us that no matter how bad our memories are, they are still a humongous part of us that encourages us to learn from our mistakes, and that's what Joy learns when restoring Riley's beliefs. What I also find admirable about this movie is its storyline, it's completely different than the first movie, focusing more on friends and growing up whilst the first focused on change and family. It also has a nice flow to it, keeping children engaged and simple enough but complex at the same time. Anyway, this movie is incredible and I highly recommend watching it even if you'll tear up at some parts!