Up

okay so i watched Up and i was NOT ready. like i pressed play thinking “haha balloons dog talking cute movie” and then pixar immediately said no actually feel this sadness forever. the beginning scene is actually illegal. carl and ellie growing up together, getting married, dreaming about paradise falls, and then life just keeps saying no. no baby. no trip. no happiness break. and then ellie dies. no warning. no villain. just life. that whole montage felt like doomscrolling your own memories at 1 a.m. while staring at the ceiling. i was sitting there like wow okay this is a kids movie btw. carl makes me so sad because he is not loud-sad. he is quiet-sad. like he barely talks, he is grumpy, and he keeps the house exactly the same because that is all he has left of ellie. he is literally stuck in time. it feels like when you refuse to delete old chats because if you do it feels like erasing a person. that hit way too close. russell lowkey annoyed me at first but then i realized he is just a kid who wants his dad to show up. he keeps acting all cheerful but you can tell he feels ignored. when carl finally becomes the adult that stays for him, i was like oh. oh no. found family moment. emotional damage unlocked. the part that really broke me was when carl reads ellie’s adventure book and realizes their life together was the adventure. like that is so sweet and so painful at the same time. she was happy. he just did not see it because he was stuck on what they did not get. that message is actually insane for a movie with a talking dog named dug. Up is one of those movies that looks happy but leaves you feeling empty in a quiet way. it is about loving someone, losing them, and still choosing to live after. i did not cry but my throat hurt and i felt weirdly sad for the rest of the day. which is worse. and honestly, overrall epic movie. :P