'Inside Out 2' Is Rated PG—But Here's Why The Sequel Is A Must-See For Parents and Kids (2024)

My close-knit group of mom friends have been just as excited to see Inside Out 2 as our kids: 9-year-olds (boys and girls) on the cusp of puberty. We’ve leaned on each other through their mood swings, friendship drama, and lots of sass. We’ve all begun wondering how we'll survive when puberty does indeed arrive and are thankful to have each other for those trying days.

So, we knew without a doubt that the best way to celebrate the end of this roller coaster of a school year (while holding our breath for what’s to come as they enter 4th grade in the fall) was a group outing of six moms and 11 kids to see Inside Out 2 together.

The New Emotional Drama of 'Inside Out 2'

In the original 2015 movie, we met Riley, a tween, dealing with the emotions of Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust in the Headquarters of her brain.

But now that Riley (Kensington Tallman) is 13 years old—things go awry when the big, red PUBERTY siren goes off seemingly in the middle of the night. Little men in hard hats burst onto the scene, much to the chagrin of the characters we already know from the first film: Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Tony Hale), and Disgust (Liza Lapira). Now they have to install an entirely new console to support Riley’s “more sophisticated” new emotions.

This causes the original five emotions to become “suppressed.” The arrival of the new emotions is all thanks to puberty and they show up just as Riley is navigating changing friendships (her two besties will be attending a different high school), the stress of ice hockey camp, and the extreme pressure of trying to fit in with a so-called “cool crowd.”

Welcome Envy (Ayo Edebiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser) Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos), and last but not least—Anxiety (Maya Hawke)—into the headquarters of Riley’s brain.

How the New Emotions Were Chosen

University of California-Berkeley psychology professor and author Dacher Keltner, PhD, who researches the science behind emotion, consulted on both films. When he visited Inside Out 2 director Kelsey Mann at the start of production, they grappled with the question of what emotions become most prominent when a young girl hits puberty and heads into adolescence.

“One of the things we know pretty definitively is that with puberty, young adolescents become much more interested in what others think of them, their reputation, social status, and standing in groups of peers. They become more socially aware and self-conscious,” Keltner tells Parents. “Puberty really does drive change in the teenage brain—it brings about a more sophisticated way of thinking as teens are better able to imagine a range of perspectives and possibilities than younger children.”

Lisa Damour, PhD, another psychologist who consulted on both Inside Out movies explains this new capacity opens the door for the arrival of the “self-conscious” emotions introduced in Inside Out 2.

“Anxiety involves imagining what could go wrong. Embarrassment requires the ability to worry about what someone else might be thinking. Envy involves wondering why someone else has what one wants for the self. And ennui depends on being able to regard certain activities as too ‘basic to be deserving of consideration,’” she says.

The Angst of 'Inside Out 2'

One of Inside Out 2’s many twists is that while yes, Anxiety causes Riley to overthink, over-worry, and overreact—the nervous energy of Anxiety also propels Riley to get things done. On the flip side, Riley’s caught between her longtime best friends and the “cool” kids she wants to impress at hockey camp. Anxiety pushes Riley to say and do things she thinks others want to hear (like pretending not to love her favorite music group because these new friends aren't into them).

Anxiety also takes Riley out of the “present moment” (which in turn eliminates feeling ”Joy”) to worry and stress about the future. Her imagination is no longer for playtime but for dwelling on “what ifs” and “worst-case scenarios.” That cycle becomes so consuming that Anxiety pushes Riley to break into her coach’s office as a means to calm her worries and find out if she’s on track to make the team. Sadness is astounded because this is not who Riley is yet Anxiety is adamant that this is who Riley needs to be.

For Tallman, who is turning 16 this summer and has been through (and still going through) much of Riley’s strife,voicing her character was cathartic.

“Before recording Inside Out 2, I struggled with calming my anxiety and was ashamed of myself. I thought something was wrong with me, and I felt very isolated,” she shares with Parents. “But when I recorded the film, I learned that anxiety is normal and I wasn't alone. I also realized anxiety is there to HELP us but can sometimes get steered off track.”

While it’s fascinating to watch Riley’s sense of self get challenged by Anxiety, Ennui, Embarrassment, and Envy, puberty brings more than just new, confusing, and even contradictory emotions. It also brushes up against Riley’s overall belief system as she struggles to find her sense of self.

Is it worth ditching lifelong friends only to be disingenuous with new ones? Is Riley being herself or being who she thinks others expect her to be? Ultimately, Joy and Anxiety work together to provide Riley some inner peace from the constant and intrusive thoughts that puberty sprung on her. But as we all know, it’s a lifelong process to keep anxiety at bay!

Why Adults Will Love the Film As Much As Their Kids

As the lights came up, all of the adults were drying our tears. For us, Inside Out 2 is a beautiful (albeit triggering) look back at shedding your childhood self as puberty arrives and taking those baby steps into young adulthood. It’s a tribute to the blank slate that is your young adult life and the different roads you can take to find passions, friendships, and your purpose.

It's an exciting time before adulthood brings heavier responsibilities, regrets, and worries. And for those of us who enter parenthood, we technically go through puberty all over again through the lens of our kids. That means guiding them (while trying to let go) and allowing them to make mistakes—without our own anxiety (past and present) running interference.

Coversation Starters From 'Inside Out 2'

One of the most common mistakes parents make as their kids go through puberty? Keltner says it’s believing your child should always be happy, that anxiety is pathological (it's very typical) and this shift in emotional life is permanent. But the big one is believing that it’s “unhealthy” for kids to feel these "negative" emotions. In fact, emotions like envy, anxiety, or anger are important to a young adolescent's identity.

“Many parents believe that adolescents should learn to master or quiet those emotions,” says Keltner. “It never pays to suppress emotions, and it is a raw fact that adolescent emotional life is by its very nature more intense.”

It’s why Inside Out 2 makes for a great conversation starter.

“With children of all ages, parents can talk about sadness, anger, fear, and disgust as expectable and healthy emotions and, in doing so, help their kids to feel unafraid of uncomfortable feelings,” Damour suggests. “With older children and teenagers, parents can talk about how anxiety can be protective if it is kept within bounds, how embarrassment can keep us from making the same mistake twice, how envy—when harnessed for good—can inspire us to strive to improve ourselves and achieve, and how ennui is, at times a natural part of life.”

Keltner thinks it's so important for parents to bring up their own failures, faults, and complexities.

“At Berkeley, I talk a great deal about my failures in life, and ask the students to share failures they've made with other students,” he says. “It's such a lesson in being human—we all make mistakes and fail in life, and we all are often struggling with similar things as people our age.”

Above all, Damour wants parents to remember that their child experiencing uncomfortable emotions is not grounds for concern, “Rather they add richness to our lives and are essential for overall mental health," she says.

Real-Time Reactions from Kids After 'Inside Out 2'

With so much weighing on the adults' minds after the credits, our kids were taking it all in. This time, Inside Out was no longer just about funny characters living in our brain. It was their first, intimate look at how puberty affects more than just their bodies but also their friendships, family life and overall mood.

Tallman hopes parents understand after watching Inside Out 2 that teenagers' actions are fueled by emotions—especially anxiety.

"Teens can sometimes get a bad reputation, but by going deeper into what's really going on, we realize that we all desperately want to fit in," she explains.

For the tween and teen viewers, she hopes they don't feel alone and learn that being themselves is enough.

“Teenagers (including myself) often feel the need to fit in and change themselves to be liked,” she says. “Riley learns to love herself inside and out, which is the most important thing she taught me!”

After the movie, I took a few minutes with the kids to discuss their thoughts—and which emotion they related to the most. For most, it was Joy. Our friend AJ, 9, was drawn to her because he’s known at school for being “kind.” Gabby, 9, also connected to Joy because she likes seeing her friends happy and “making them smile.”

But Sophia, 9, was most drawn to Anxiety as she's recently been able to identify that feeling happening within herself more often. While my own daughter Mila, 9, related most to Joy, she was disappointed that when Riley’s new emotions took over, they made her feel like she wasn’t “good enough.”

Mila was also shocked that Anxiety was my "favorite" emotion in the film. I wish that I could tell her that anxiety is exclusive to puberty and then goes away for good in adulthood. I wish when we got home from the movie that a group text about plans for a beach day didn’t trigger my anxiety (and subsequent fear of missing out) because I have to work and didn’t want Mila to miss out. I wish that I didn’t have anxiety for most of the film because at 46 years old, I still can relate to and deeply feel Riley’s struggles.

But it was comforting—and a glimmer of hope for all of us parents—that almost all our kids said the biggest lesson they took away from Inside Out 2 was the importance of being yourself, staying true to yourself, and never changing yourself for others.

The most poignant takeaway was summarized so eloquently by Vaughn, age 9. "Try not to let anxiety take over—no matter how many little voices are in your brain trying to control your every move!”