Soul (2020)

Soul is peak Pixar, the kind of film only they make. It's like Inside Out or Wall-E, the sort of story that could only properly be told through animation. Soul reaches into emotional spaces that the average film (not just animated) never even attempt. It explores the sort of existential questions that mainstream movies rarely successfully tackle. And while Soul is doing that it tells a captivating story that is both hilarious, thrilling, and packs an emotional punch that will bring you to tears. Pixar is heading back into a bit of a renaissance with this and Onward after some weak years and Soul is a triumphant return to form.

Pixar has often been able to achieve the holy grail of film making, telling a truly original story that isn't just a retelling of some familiar narrative we've all seen a hundred times before. Soul is another example of this, perhaps one of their better ones. Even if you've seen the trailer you won't know what to expect. And once the story gets going, it will take you places you do not see coming. But once it all plays out it all feels so honest and real that it will just overwhelm you. Writer/director Doctor, who is responsible for the amazingly original Monsters Inc. ups his game even more with this original story.

And then there is the music. Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor provide a score that isn't like anything they've done before. They might not be the choice you be thinking of for a film like this but they have done some amazing work here. But the heart of it is Jon Batiste's exquisite jazz, which even in a year of great jazz scores (The Photograph, Ma Bailey's Black Bottom), Soul hits the right groove. The film works as a jazz song, allowing the rhythm and notes that may start out familiar to riff on unexpected themes and take us in deliciously random journeys which end up being well worth the ride. Just like Baptiste's music.

Soul may be the most adult film Pixar has produced. Many of their films work on duel levels, appealing to both children and adults in differing, and sometimes similar, ways. Soul though takes a new approach by focusing almost entirely on adult themes. I wonder if it will speak to children much at all. The story here is very much a mature story that doesn't spend time introducing the sorts of hooks, characters, and story beats that appeal to younger folks. Soul may be the first adults only Disney/Pixar film.

Visually the film is dreamy, hitting both the perfect note for this story and living up to a studio which has upped the animation game again and again. I fell in love with this animation studio years ago and lately I've felt a little cold to its product. Soul is reminding me what made me love Pixar in the first place, one of the most original animations studios perhaps rivaled only by Ghibli. It is the sort of cinematic experience that transports me, heart and, yes, soul.

Soul

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Questlove, Phylicia Richad, Daveed Diggs, Angela Bassett, Graham Norton, Rachel House, Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade, Donnell Rawlings, Wes Studi, June Squib, John Ratzenberger

Director: Pete Doctor

Writers: Mike Jones,  Kemp Power, Pete Doctor