Turning Red

An under-the-radar effort, made so due to its direct-to-streaming debut caused by the pandemic, that actually has much more going for it than some other recent products of the Pixar studio. For one, the movie’s main character, Meilin, is adorable, in both of her manifestations. Another solid attribute: this flick leans heavily into the comedy, rather than trying to ladle on the sentiment or delve for deeper meanings. When the sentiment does come, it feels earned. And as befits the story’s comedic slant, the renderings of the characters, settings and action are stylized and cartoonish, rather than the usual showy and ostentatiously realistic visuals; here, the dialed back appearances serve the humor well. Also, the filmmakers made a keen decision to set this story in Toronto, where the various ethnic elements of the tale seem less like the product of relentless identitarianism and more the outgrowth of the actual facts on the ground in that most cosmopolitan of cities. Indeed, the story is presented so well that the viewer can ignore the fact that the whole thing is a rather ham-handed metaphor for a young girl reaching puberty (even given the numerous instances where that notion is made fairly explicit). I for one probably could have done without the boy band element, but given the movie’s girl focus, I suppose that’s on-point, too. Indeed, practically all of this work was done right, and the result is a surprisingly amusing and entertaining film. I say, give this bit of red a big green light.