Film of the Week: Soul

Pixar has done it again. And they seem to have confirmed that the Pixar Theory (that every Pixar film exists on one giant timeline) is true by the amount of Easter eggs and references within the Hall of Everything. Whether that’s true or not is yet another theory, but it’s a strong one nevertheless.

Soul focuses on celebrating living in the moment, and not letting something, even if it’s something you live, take control of you. It’s centre point is of course, finding what truly makes you want to get up in the morning - that spark that drives our motivation, gives us the energy to keep going. Jamie Foxx voices Joe Gardner, who, after an unfortunate accident, ends up on a conveyor belt along with all the other souls heading for the great beyond. Refusing that, he jumps off the conveyor belt and falls into an entirely new world - or realm if that’s the most accurate description - The Great Before, where all the souls that would be born into the world originate from and find their spark. He stars alongside Tina Fey, who voices 22, a soul who doesn’t want to leave The Great Before. 22 doesn’t know and doesn’t want to find out what will complete that badge which will grant access to Earth. 22 accidentally falls into Joe’s body and learns what it means to be alive, creating that much awaited spark.

There were two surprising voices in Soul. Richard Ayoade’s voices Soul Sorter, and Graham Norton voices Moonwind. They both do a brilliant performance and bring their own personalities into the film.

Pixar’s seemingly flawless ability to make their audience feel so many emotions whilst watching their films is what makes them one of the greatest animated film studios ever, and they can proudly add Soul to that ever growing list. Near the end, when 22 had found that spark, that emotional farewell he and 22 shared before saying goodbye was a powerful moment, accompanied by the amazing soundtrack written by Trent Reznor and Addicus Ross, and it would be an insult to his talent by not mentioning Jon Batiste for his work composing the Jazz music, which was Joe’s soul for most of the movie.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)