Turning Red

My whole life I've been perfect little Mei Mei. But maybe I like this new me.

What a first feature film this is from director Domee Shi! 

It's 2002 and Mei is 13 and considers herself an adult. Shortly after starting to get strange feelings about boys, Mei finds herself turning into a giant red panda when she is stressed or excited, something which happens all the time when you are a teenager, especially one with an over-bearing and embarrassing mother. Mei discovers the cause is a family curse but there is a ritual which will cure it- unfortunately said ritual is due to take place on the night her favourite boyband 4*Town are performing in Toronto.

Essentially this is a coming of age story but it's a remarkably well done one. The red panda transformation is a perfect allegory for the transformation that we go under during puberty. Mei is so wrapped up in family life and working hard to impress her mum that she doesn't really know who she is and she gradually begins to discover her identity as the film progresses. Later on we see a bit more about the family curse and this reminds us that all adults have been through this stuff too. 

I love how specific the setting of this film is. It's Toronto in 2002 and it really feels like it in the best of ways. It works as a setting which feels modern but isn't beholden to a world of social media and iPhones. There is so much detail in the setting from the clothes Mei and her friends where to a Tamagotchi and fictional boyband 4*Town. I was pretty sceptical when I heard they this film would include a boyband but they absolutely nail the idea here with the band feeling very plausible and the songs, written by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell, sounding like actual boyband hits. 

I like the way the Chinese heritage of the characters is used here. It's an important part of who Mei is and is vital for the whole red panda thing but it doesn't define her. I thought there was a really nice balance between the culturally specific stuff and the more universal things. The moment when Mei's Aunts arrive and immediately argue over whether she has lost weight or put on weight and which relative she looks more like is exactly what happens every time I visit my grandmother and her sister.

The animation feels a bit different here. It's still got the beauty of Pixar within it but the characters are more stylised than we've seen from the studio before. This appears to be a deliberate choice with anime influences in the facial expressions that really work in the context of the film. It has the crisp quality of a Pixar film whilst feeling distinct from anything else they've done. 

All in all, I just thought this was fantastic and is the best film the studio has released since Toy Story 3. I'm now off to listen to 'Nobody Like U' by 4*Town on repeat.