Soul (2020)
“Life is full of possibilities. You just need to know where to look. Don’t miss out on the joys of life.” – Joe.
Soul (2020)
Directed by: Pete Docter, Kemp Powers
Written by: Pete Docter, Mike Jones
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton, Rachel House, Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, Angela Bassett
In a shock to absolutely no one, Pixar’s newest film, Soul, is an absolute delight. A cute family film with characters and jokes that children will love, this also follows in the footsteps of Inside Out, exploring some deeper, more complex themes for adult audiences.
Set in a sublime animated representation of New York City, Soul follows local music teacher and aspiring Jazz musician Joe Gardner (Foxx). On the same day that he gets his ‘big break’ and a chance to play with local Jazz legend Dorothea Williams (Bassett), Joe unfortunately falls down a manhole, and wakes up as a soul heading into the ‘Great Beyond’. Refusing to die before his big break, he escapes to the ‘Great Before’ – a location where unborn souls are prepared and programmed for their lives on Earth. Teaming up with a disgruntled and problematic soul named 22 (Fey), Joe attempts to get back to his body, and back to his life.
This movie was great. The animation is top-notch, the characters are fun, but most importantly the story was the right combination of heartwarming, funny and philosophical. Philosphical? In a Pixar movie? Well, yeah, that’s the whole point of the film – writer and director Pete Docter (who also wrote Toy Story, Up, Inside Out and Monster’s Inc, so massive pat on the back for Pete!) creates a world where the overarching themes are our purpose in life, how our personality or identity is formed, and the concept of a ‘soul’. These are all outlined and packaged in a cute little film, which is incredible for such complex concepts.
It’s worth mentioning here how potentially dangerous and controversial the concept of this film was for Pixar, with the landmine of discussing and representing anything spiritual sure to incur the criticism of some religious groups. However, I think the representations of the ‘Great Before’ and the ‘Great Beyond’ are great. The ‘Great Beyond’ is the afterlife, and Docter is smart enough to avoid exploring this in too much detail - it’s just shown as an elevator towards a bright light – safe, simple, effective. The ‘Great Before’ is given far more screen time, and represents the location all souls are formed before they are sent to Earth to fill a newborn body. Run by councillors all named ‘Jerry’, souls are mentored by older souls who are in limbo between Earth and the ‘Great Beyond’, and given guidance in order to ‘complete’ their personality. It’s all represented in a fun, easy-to-digest format, with a bunch of funny characters (all of the Jerry’s are great), but it also helps unpack the big-picture thoughts. Why are we who we are? Are we more influenced by nature or nurture? What is our purpose in life? How can we get the most out of our lives? Deep, I know, but it is a beautiful depiction of self-reflection and personal development.
Outside of the philosophical undertones, the Pixar blueprint remains the same – snappy dialogue with a bunch of jokes to break up the more serious parts of the film, along with some scenes that will pull at your heartstrings. The voice actors all give good performances, with a smattering of different accents to keep you entertained.
If you’re a fan of Pixar or Disney films, check this out. It’ll make you think, make you laugh, and make you cry. Highly, highly recommend.
Rating: 7.5/10