Turning Red celebrates awkward teen life in spectacular fashion
At this point, the “Pixar movie” stereotype has become a meme: People go into the animation studio’s projects expecting a family-friendly story focused on non-human protagonists given surprising depth and powerful emotions. There are exceptions, but historically, Pixar has carved out this channel of storytelling for itself, then perfected it. But with a new wave of filmmakers stepping up, Pixar is breaking its own mold. 2021’s Luca is the perfect example, as a lower-key film built around subtle, understated interactions, instead of constructing big drama on the way to an emotionally shattering climax.
Related
Turning Red, which bypasses theaters in the U.S. for Disney Plus, continues the trend. Domee Shi, who directed Pixar’s short filmBao in 2018, creates something special with this project, a deeply personal film that speaks to universal themes. With Turning Red, Shi gleefully celebrates early adolescence, a time of life often portrayed as awkward and cringey, and she revels in extensive cultural specificities that enrich the story. With a bright visual style and specific, evocative storytelling,Turning Red is an incredibly special addition to the Pixar canon, and one of its best films.
[Ed. note: This review contains minor setup spoilers for Turning Red.]
Turning Red follows 13-year-old Mei (Rosalie Chiang), a spunky Chinese-Canadian middle-schooler living in Toronto in the early 2000s, juggling her devotion to her mother and her duties at the family temple with her budding sense of self. After one particularly turbulent day, she wakes up and discovers she’s transformed into a giant red panda. As it turns out, every woman in her family shares this quirk —they turn into pandas when their emotions run high. Mei’s
Read more on polygon.com
