Soul

“How’re you going to spend your life?”

“I’m not sure. But I do know. I’m going to live every minute of it.”

• Title: Soul
• Director: Pete Docter
• Release date: 25th December 2020

If you want to start 2021 off right, I suggest you watch Soul.

Soul is a Pixar animated film, released by Walt Disney Studios, which tells the story of a talented musician named Joe (Jamie Foxx). Discontent with his life as a music school teacher, his big break seems to be right around the corner when he gains the chance to perform with celebrity jazz musician Doretha Williams (Angela Bassett). Unfortunately, things take a turn for the worst when Joe finds himself in “The Great Before” (where souls go before they enter Earth). He meets a dissatisfied soul named 22 (Tina Fey), and they create a plan to help Joe get back to Earth. However, as expected, things don’t go to plan, leading both Joe and 22 to find out more about themselves than they ever expected.

For many, as you get older, the thought of watching an animation seems less and less appealing (unless its Shrek, of course!). However, sometimes watching a film that was created to be seen through the eyes of a youngster is exactly what you need. In Soul, the story tackles one big question that even some adults aren’t even ready to answer. This question being…

“What is my purpose in life?”

I feel that we all believe that to live life to the fullest, we need to find our purpose. What have we been put on this earth to do? For some, it may be to save lives, for others, it may be to entertain, but until we find this purpose and achieve it, we have not succeeded. What Soul does is show us that life isn’t about finding our purpose; it’s about how we live it.

As well as its vital message, Soul is also Pixar’s first film to feature an African-American protagonist. The creators acknowledged how African-Americans have often been portrayed in animations through racist black caricatures. To present a true reflection of their black characters, they went to great lengths to make sure that every detail was perfect from their hair to their skin tone. And for that, I applaud them.

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So, for a film targeted to a younger audience, I think it’s us older ones who really need to see it.