Soul Movie Review: A Big Hug For Your Insecurities 😭 (Spoiler Alert)

Soul is a Pixar animated movie about a man named Joe Gardner who is a middle-school band teacher in New York with a dream of becoming a jazz pianist. The trailer is a pretty good summary of the first 10-15 minutes of this movie. Joe, through a freak accident, falls into a world where souls live before they become humans, and he does everything in his power to try to get back to his life on Earth. This film lives up to the high expectations set for Pixar and more! While it is filled with smart humor and adorable animation, the message at the end of the movie was extremely endearing and made me cry. This movie is like a warm weighted blanket for your soul, especially in a hard year like 2020.

Spoiler Alert for the rest of this review.

Soul is self-aware that the first 10 minutes of the movie is like a recap of the trailers, so I thought it was pretty smart that they put the title card a little bit after Joe falls into the “Great Before.” It’s like they were saying, “now this is where the movie really starts.” The first half of this film is filled with playful character introductions and a lot of humor. Pixar loves creating imaginative worlds and explaining how it works, and through the exposition, the movie inserts a lot of hilarious jokes to not make it too boring. It definitely succeeded because I thought this movie was hilarious. Terry and the Jerries cracked me up, especially Terry. One of my favorite scenes was when Terry accidentally took the wrong guy’s (Paul’s) soul out of his body. And when Terry put his soul back into his body, she/he tried to convince him that nothing happened like some kind of murderous thug in a back alley 😂.

I love that Soul is unpredictable. I did not expect that Joe would inherit the body of Mr. Mittens and 22 would inherit the body of Joe. Body switch-a-roo stories are pretty common, especially in animation, so I did get a little bit worried that the story would turn into some cheesy comedy about how awkward and funny it is for Joe to be a cat. But there were some really profound and touching moments during this time. 22 is awed by the little things in life on Earth that we forget about in our day-to-day life, much like a newborn experiencing things for the first time. The barbershop scene was beautiful and especially poignant, because of how real the characters and dialogue were. It was such a simple act of seeing everyday people doing everyday things, but Pixar is somehow able to make it comforting and enriching. I guess it goes to show that good storytelling and writing can make the human experience truly remarkable.

And finally, the MESSAGE at the end of this movie is so beautiful and endearing. The movie leads you into thinking that every soul needs to have a “spark” or a purpose on Earth. However, by the end, you are floored by Joe coming to the realization that a life is never defined by a single purpose or meaning…and you don’t need to be a Gandhi or an Abraham Lincoln in order to live a meaningful and purposeful life. And this message suddenly seems so obvious! Tears started rolling down my eyes when I saw 22 and Joe flying towards Earth, finally released from the belief that anyone who doesn’t have a singular goal/purpose in life does not deserve to live. Let’s face it…we’re all super insecure human beings who feel the pressure to succeed, chase singular goals, and accomplish lofty dreams. All that is great, but this movie reminds you that you are doing just fine. Your life is purposeful and meaningful in its own special way because of how far you have already come.

In conclusion…

Soul is amazing, beautiful, and so aptly named. My soul felt rejuvenated and my heart felt a little bit lighter from the joy of watching this movie. I think it’s definitely one of the best movies to come out this year, and it’s up there as one of my favorite Pixar films :).