A beautiful, touching and insightful film

Rating: 10/10 (13 July 2015)

Inside Out takes us inside the mind of a young girl as she grows up and goes through various changes and emotions. It's humorous, moving and thought-provoking. The concept is simple and a bit arbitrary - that our minds consist of 5 primary emotions that take turns directing our actions. But this idea is really just a starting point for countless observations about the many subtleties of human emotion.
The movie is ripe for deeper interpretations. I feel like anyone learning psychology could draw upon so many helpful analogies via this film. The way we store old memories, forget things, remember random things, alternate quickly between different emotions, change as we grow up, develop moral values, etc. Inside Out visualises these things in ways which are often funny but also abstractly seem to make perfect sense.
There are many parallels to another masterpiece, Inception. Both films delve into the inner workings of the human mind. The ideas they present are deeply original and profound. They have universal relevance because the scene of the action is perhaps the only thing absolutely everyone has in common (a mind of course). In fact, it's a concept we often seem to forget or skim over. That great mystery of who we are, what we are, what exactly are thoughts and feelings and what defines who we truly are? Do we love ourselves? Do we even know ourselves? Modern society seems to focus exclusively on the external world, forgetting that we "exist" and carry a world within our own minds. In both movies, our hero confronts something within themselves and grows as a result.
Monster's, Inc. was full of jokes specific to the world it had created and so is Inside Out. The writers clearly had fun adding all the little details. I'm confident that Inside Out will only grow in comedic value with each viewing. The characters are true to themselves and the movie never stops for the sake of a gag. The comedy naturally flows out of what's happening.
I was deeply moved by this movie. Its story is far more tragic and deeply sad than the colours and humour make it seem. It's about a child's world gradually falling apart. And yet somewhere in her subconscious, she desperately tries to find happiness again. It strips humanity down to its most basic level. Our truest, most personal feelings that we are sometimes afraid to acknowledge or accept. Everyone has felt what she feels. And any adult will understand the frightening possibilities that are alluded to and how differently things could have turned out.
I feel I've learned new things about life and human emotions. Sometimes the distinction between happiness and sadness can become blurred. We can't always have control of our emotions (but perhaps we can choose how to handle them). The way we feel about the past can change unexpectedly. Healing can sometimes be scary and painful but worth it. It may be better to accept how we feel than to act tough and become something we're not. We're usually more loved than we realise. Our experiences can shape who we are. Often when we grow, we lose things but gain richer things. We can create a moment of joy out of an unpleasant situation. People often walk away from things with completely different ideas of what just happened. These might not all be amazing revelations, but they are presented here so poetically that your perspective is refreshed.
The film-making is of such a high calibre that the entire focus is on the story and the experience. I don't want to write about the voice-acting or animation or effects or script or music because I didn't notice any of it. But I guess that really just means they were all excellent. I never had a chance to complain because I was completely engaged. We see what we're meant to see and feel what we're meant to feel. Pixar appears to be full of talented and passionate film-makers and it shows with all of their movies. Inside Out pulls at our heartstrings and opens our eyes like it's no big deal. This is a true work of art worthy of admiration and wholehearted enjoyment.