By: Anya Chen

With the rising trend of mental health awareness, the movie industry is taking its part in it with the newest Pixar film “Inside Out 2”. This movie was released on June 14th, directed by Kelsey Mann and starring Maya Hawke, Tony Hale, and more.

In “Inside Out”, we see the emotional journey of a young girl named Riley through the personified emotions of Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust living in her mind and navigating her life. Now, in the sequel, there is an additional team of emotions running her brain. Anxiety, the star of the show, is now a part of Riley’s brain. Teens today deal with so much anxiety and this movie is here to normalize the whole situation.

Many teenagers online have recommended for adults watching the movie in person to not bring their children. “Please keep your kids at home, Inside Out 2 is for us,” says user @jacksenie.

“Inside Out” the first movie, was set in Riley’s childhood, with her childlike, basic emotions. Now that it has been almost 10 years since then, the second part is set in her teenage mind with more complex and mature emotions. The sequel was pretty much made for the children who are now grown up.

In the movie, Riley has a panic attack in the middle of her hockey game. We can see that in the Headquarters, where the emotions work and reside, that Anxiety is up to all of this. As the other emotions stand back and watch her cause an anxiety “tornado”, Joy steps forward and catches a glimpse of Anxiety: frozen amidst the destruction around her.

“Anxiety just shows us how much doubt and pressure we put onto ourselves and all that can hurt our soul in the end,” says user @ysabellvna_. Most teenagers cried while watching this movie because of how relatable it was.

Director Kelsey Mann comments, “I always envisioned this being a movie about anxiety taking over, and was reflecting on my own life and how my anxiety does that in me.”