Disney’s big movie is released on Christmas Day! Check out our review right here.
In the 25 years since they released Toy Story, Pixar have never released a movie that we would describe as “not suitable for children”. They have toyed with some mature themes before, for sure – Cars was essentially about the fear of ageing, Inside Out tackled depression, while Coco literally took a long, hard look at death. But they each had characters and comedic set-ups that still made them feel family friendly.
However, there is something about Soul that makes us feel this is aimed specifically at adults, as the amount of jokes, references and themes that will fly right over the heads of younger viewers is staggering. There isn’t even a cute animal supporting character to distract them! We’re not saying that kids shouldn’t watch this movie, but we’re not sure they’ll vibe with the subtexts of existentialism and performance anxiety…
We meet talented but unlucky jazz pianist Joe (Jamie Foxx) on the day he finally nails an audition for a big name performer (Angela Bassett), and on his way home to celebrate, he falls down an open sewer grate. He wakes up, his body gone and only his soul remaining, on its way to the Great Beyond, but he escapes and somehow clambers his way into the Great Before, mistaken for a teacher getting new souls ready for their time on Earth. Here, he is paired with 22 (Tina Fey), a soul happy to spend eternity without ever setting foot in a human body.
Beyond that… well, we’re into some rough territory here. The trailer for Soul is very misleading, not giving away pretty much anything from the second or third act of the movie, but if they don’t want it spoiled, we won’t spoil it here, either. The movie goes off on a very surprising tangent that we didn’t see coming at all, but suffice it to say that Joe must try to convince 22 to live her life if there is any hope for him to get back to continue living his.
There is a very impressive supporting cast (Graham Norton, Phylicia Rashad, Questlove, Alice Braga, Richard Ayoade), with special mention going to Rachel House as a soul counter who figures out something is amiss – the constant paranoia and suspicion across her entire performance is consistently very, very funny.
And that comedy really stands out in a movie that actually isn’t all that funny, especially considering the very funny people involved. Ditto with the emotional side of it – the expected tsunami of tears at the end of a movie about love and death never actually materialised.
Instead, we’ve got a movie that will light up the brain of every adult viewer, as Soul focuses on teaching grown-ups important lessons about passion, obsession, and the balancing act of career and personal life. Again, without delving too much into spoilers, Joe comes to realise that his single-minded goal of becoming a famous jazz musician came with a heavy (but previously unnoticed) cost, and in an age when more and more people seem to suffer with a similar mindset, it is a great message to impart.
Teaching this message comes with a cost of its own, as while Soul is unquestionably beautiful (you’ll never look at a falling leaf in the same way again), and as a movie about a musician, the score was always going to be spectacular (provided by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, surprisingly!), but it never hits you in the feels the way you’d anticipate. Soul’s IQ is through the roof, but it sometimes feels like you’re getting life lessons from an emotionally distanced therapist, instead of the cuddly best friend Pixar usually is.
Soul will be available to watch on Disney+ from Christmas Day.
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