Soul (2020)

Soul (2020)

7/10

Starring the voices of

Jamie Foxx

Tina Fey

Questlove

Phylicia Rashad

Daveed Diggs

Angela Bassett

Directed by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers

Disney/Pixar have done magnificent work with emotional movies like Inside Out and Up. While Soul follows a similar emotional journey, it doesn’t quite reach the same heights as those films. That said, I still found my emotional strings pulled, and there was real joy in watching this movie unfold. Seeing the characters Joe and 22 come to realize what living truly means was incredibly satisfying. The whole “walk a mile in my shoes” concept depicted in the film was the standout moment for me.

Soul may not be as emotional or funny (this is true) as Inside Out or Up, but it has its moments. The story is crafted in a way that both children and adults can find meaning in it. It encourages viewers to take a reflective look at what really makes them tick.

As you’d expect from Disney/Pixar, the animation was top-notch. You’ll especially appreciate this when Joe and 22 return to Joe’s body—the visuals, paired with the storytelling, do a lot of the heavy lifting to convey the magic of living.

With an amazing voice cast, Soul takes you on a ride to the world beyond—or maybe the world before. Who knows? The story begins with the introduction of Joe.

Joe is a part-time music teacher at a school, but he dreams of becoming a full-time jazz musician. When the school offers him a full-time teaching job, Joe hesitates. His mother, wanting him to have stability and avoid hardship, encourages him to accept the position. However, Joe is determined to chase his dream. Then, his chance finally comes: he lands a gig to play in a jazz band.

If you’ve seen the trailer, you know what happens next. Joe’s excitement leads to an accident, and suddenly his soul is ascending to the great beyond. But Joe, desperate not to die when his dream is within reach, tries everything he can to escape his fate.

This leads him to meet 22, a soul who hasn’t yet found her “spark”—the thing that will make her ready for life on Earth. Despite being mentored by some of history’s greatest thinkers and heroes, 22 remains uninterested in living. When she and Joe are paired up, and she discovers Joe is faking his role as a mentor to get back to Earth, she reluctantly agrees to help him.

Their partnership leads to unexpected chaos: 22, who never wanted to go to Earth, ends up there—with Joe—but not in the way either of them intended.

The heart of Soul is its journey between life, the great beyond, and back again. While the early parts of the movie felt a bit slow and not as engaging as I’d hoped, everything changes when Joe and 22 return to Earth. From that point on, the animation and storytelling truly take off, making up for the slower moments earlier in the film.

You can watch Soul on Disney+, and while it might not reach the emotional peaks of some of Pixar’s best, it’s still a thoughtful and worthwhile journey.