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COVID-19 Special: 'Soul' (U)


Director: Pete Docter 

Cast: (voices) Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Graham Norton, Angela Bassett

Where can I watch?: Soul is streaming on Disney+

Rating: 4/5

Review: Pixar has a knack of dealing with tough subjects in a way that doesn't terrify small children and yet somehow reduces adults to weeping wrecks. The studio's latest, released on Disney+ on Christmas Day, is no different. Joe (Jamie Foxx), a middle school music teacher, suddenly finds that his time is up and that he's heading towards the Great Beyond. Fleeing, he stumbles across the Great Before, where souls must find their 'spark' if they're to be sent to Earth. It's here that he meets 22 (Tina Fey), a soul who's been stuck in the Great Before for hundreds of years. Calamity ensues when the pair find themselves back on Earth, but not in the bodies they were expecting. As you'd expect from a Pixar, Soul is beautifully observed, from Mr Mittens' love of a sunbeam, to the golden glow of New York City in autumn and the atmospheric beauty of the jazz bar. The script is peppered with equally delightful moments, from the humorous to the heart-breaking, and the soundtrack offers a suitably suitably eerie feel to the Before and Beyond sequences. For me, however, elements of Soul, especially in the Great Before, feel too close to Inside Out for the film to be viewed without comparison. For all the cleverness of the Picasso-esque Counselors, the spookiness of the Lost Souls and the ingenious creativity behind the ship sailing around capturing the aforementioned creatures, it did feel a little similar to the metaphysical masterpiece that came before. Inside Out also delivered a greater emotional punch, even though Soul certainly brought on more than a smattering of tears. 

A COVID-19 Must-Watch?: It's a Pixar film, so 'yes'. 
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