Turning Red (2022) Movie Review
Turning Red is a Pixar movie that departs from the traditional trajectory of the studio, but in a good way. This movie is the first time that an all female creative leadership team has created a movie for the animation studio. You might recognize writer and director Domee Shi from her animated short film, Bao (2018), which was one of the most memorable and creative shorts in recent years. Shi assembled a team of all-star creators including producer Lindsey Collins, visual effects supervisor Danielle Feinberg, production designer Rona Liu, and associate producer Sabine Koch O’Sullivan. The result is one of Pixar’s most unique stories to date.
Set in 2002, Meilin (Rosalie Chiang) is a thirteen-year-old girl with three best friends who all share an obsession with boy band 4*Town. Unfortunately Meilin has to hide some of her interests from her overbearing mother, Ming (Sandra Oh). One day Meilin wakes up to find that she has transformed into a large red panda. This continues to happen anytime Meilin experiences a strong emotion. It is later revealed that every female member of the family transforms when they come of age. In order to combat this inconvenience, the red panda spirit must be contained in an amulet. This process must occur on the night of the Red Moon which is in a month’s time. Until then, Meilin has to navigate being a teenager who occasionally turns into a red panda.
Turning Red explores so many different themes including the difficulty of puberty, navigating a relationship with your parents, the clash of old and new generations, and learning to accept people for who they are. It is one of the most interesting and unique coming of age stories in the last few years. The nuances of the movie are especially poignant, capturing what it was like to grow up in the early 2000’s (beware, the nostalgia will hit you hard) before cell phones and social media. The animation is the usual superb Pixar level but the story is really what makes Turning Red so fun. I haven’t seen puberty explained or shown as well as Shi does it here. Her storytelling style is quirky but effective and I had a blast watching it. It might not be Pixar’s best movie, but it is a solid entry in the studio’s filmography.
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You like coming of age stories
2. You like stories about the strength of families
3. You’ve wanted to see Pixar step outside the box
