Turning Red

A beautifully-animated, warm-hearted, and adorable movie, Turning Red revolves around a young Chinese-Canadian girl, Meilin, who is learning how to deal with her emotions and navigating the world around her. Not only did I love the visuals of this movie, with its bright colors, the expressive characters give the movie even more personality. Turning Red manages to deliver such an entertainer through its symbolism on puberty, mother-daughter relationships, and more. It depicts a coming-of-age experience that is universal and timeless, as everyone can relate to their first teenage years as a little awkward. As a young girl, I felt I could heavily relate to Turning Red and to Mei as I was once an anxious 13 year old obsessed with a boy band. I also love the inclusion of East Asian influences, as director Domee Shi herself is Chinese. In the character design there are touches of Japanese anime style. In the world of studio animation, director Shi, who co-wrote the story with Julia Cho, Turning Red confronts the messiness of adolescence with an honesty that is welcome. Mei's change is unmistakably a metaphor for the beginning of puberty, when your body betrays you and transforms into something you can no longer recognize. It is a story about shame, social anxiety, and other areas that we can recognize within our own lives. Shi does an amazing job of creating an entertaining story, while also portraying the truths of one’s youth.