Turning Red (2022)

I want to go on a rant about how large swaths of audiences have had to spend most of their lives watching films centring straight white males and we all learned to find some small piece we could relate to and get on board with. When films are about someone who doesn't fit into that category they are labelled niche and we're made to think there is only a limited audience for them. Most of us know what it is like to go to the movies and root for someone who doesn't look like us or share our experiences. But there is still a large group who feel like if the main character's arc isn't something they personally can aspire to then it's not for them. Screw that! Go see more movie about people who are different from you. 

Rant over. 

Sometimes it is in telling a very specific narrative that we are able to tap into a more universal shared experience. Turning Red is very much that. Writer/director Domee Shi's smart and truly engaging film is both a very personal film and one that can be appreciated and related to by anyone. It is very specific in its details (tween girl discovering her sexuality, the urban Canadian lifestyle, an immigrant community's relationship to its North American wider culture) so much so that it almost fetishizes its particularities. Yet within that is a very relatable story about self-discovery that emerges from Shi's own unique take. It is in baring her truth that any audience can connect to it. She doesn't make her tale palatable for any audience, she makes it authentic for her, and in doing so invites us all in to find something we can experience and relate to. 

As is the Pixar tradition, Turning Red is a purely delightful film that goes well beneath the surface to hit us deep in the feels. From the opening moments Turning Red grabs you, never once drags, and makes you laugh along the way. The story is compelling throughout and I wasn't always sure I new how it would turn out. I watched it with a big smile on my face. But it also touched me in ways I wasn't suspecting. The human relationships are so well drawn it was impossible not to get drawn in. From the thoughtful and clever script to the heartfelt performances, Turning Red just worked so well. 

And sorry but I loved how authentically Canadian it felt. Sure Red's Toronto is a pastel wonderland, but from the way characters talk (they even say touque!) to the subtleties of their interactions, it felt so truly Canuck. I did appreciate how Shi decided not to set it in winter and found a way to make it Canadian without having to litter each scene with snow. 

Turning Red reminded me of Inside Out, Wall-E, The Incredibles, Soul, purely magical films that are like nothing else out there. It is another triumph for Pixar. 

Turning Red

Starring: Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Orion Lee, Wei Ching Ho, James Hong, Ava Morse, Hyein Park, Tristan Allerick, Finneas O'Connell, Jordan Fisher, Josh Levi

Director: Domee Shi

Writers: Julia Cho, Domee Shi