Inside Out Movie Reviews
5.0
Peter Debruge | Variety
In execution, Pixar’s 15th feature proves to be the greatest idea the toon studio has ever had: a stunningly original concept that will not only delight and entertain the company’s massive worldwide audience, but also promises to forever change the way people think about the way people think, delivering creative fireworks grounded by a wonderfully relatable family story.Read full review5.0
Robbie Collin | The Telegraph
This is a humane and heart-wrenchingly beautiful film from Docter; even measured alongside Pixar’s numerous great pictures, it stands out as one of the studio’s very best.Read full review5.0
Richard Roeper | Chicago Sun-Times
Directed with great flair and pitch-perfect timing, brimming with sparkling visuals, filled with first-rate voice performances, thrilling adventures and unforgettable moments, Inside-Out is an instant classic.Read full review5.0
Kenneth Turan | Los Angeles Times
Inside Out manages to be honest and unafraid but never cheaply sentimental where emotion is concerned, evoking a largeness of spirit whose ability to be moving sneaks up and takes us by surprise.Read full review5.0
Steve Persall | Tampa Bay Times
The surprises are plentiful and seamlessly connected.Read full review5.0
Chris Nashawaty | Entertainment Weekly
There’s enough slapstick and silliness to keep kids entertained.... But the film also has a bittersweet streak about the loss of innocence and the fleetingness of childhood.Read full review5.0
Dana Stevens | Slate
Only in the medium of animation could a conceit as elaborate as Inside Out’s be dramatized, and only animation this well-designed and executed could bring such a story so vibrantly to life.Read full review5.0
Ann Hornaday | Washington Post
This is that rare movie that transcends its role as pure entertainment to become something genuinely cathartic, even therapeutic, giving children a symbolic language with which to manage their unruliest emotions.Read full review5.0
Steven Rea | Philadelphia Inquirer
Inside Out is the first psychological thriller that's fun for the whole family. Really psychological. And really fun.Read full review5.0
Matt Zoller Seitz | RogerEbert.com
The best parts of it feel truly new, even as they channel previous animated classics (including the works of Hayao Miyazaki) and explore situations and feelings that everyone has experienced to some degree.Read full review5.0
David Edelstein | New York Magazine (Vulture)
This teeming, tear-duct-draining, exhaustingly inventive, surreal animated comedy is going to be a new pop-culture touchstone. In all kinds of ways it’s a mind-opener.Read full review5.0
Lawrence Toppman | Charlotte Observer
I haven’t seen a movie this year with a more brilliant combination of imagination, emotionally moving moments, witty writing, visually interesting details and psychologically accurate behavior than Inside Out.Read full review5.0
Joe Morgenstern | Wall Street Journal
The level of invention is so high, and the density of detail is so great, that it’s impossible to absorb everything in a single viewing.Read full review5.0
Jamie Graham | Total Film
Like the Toy Story trilogy, Inside Out is about leaving childhood behind. It’s not quite as moving as those films but it is A-grade Pixar, full of Sadness and Joy.Read full review5.0
Peter Travers | Rolling Stone
The idea has been tried — remember TV's "Herman's Head"? — but never with the artful brilliance of filmmaker Pete Docter (Up; Monsters, Inc.).Read full review4.6
Gregory Ellwood | Hitfix
The dramatic elements of Inside Out will stick with you, but don’t fear. The humor is palpable.Read full review4.6
Marc Mohan | Portland Oregonian
Inside Out expands the possibilities of animation. It's also a hilarious ride that delights the eye, the mind and the heart.Read full review4.6
A.A. Dowd | The A.V. Club
Bucking the current company mandate of churning out lesser sequels and prequels, it’s not just a brilliant idea, but maybe the most conceptually daring movie the Bay Area animation house has ever produced. And that’s really saying something, what with "WALL-E" on the books.Read full review4.5
Kimberley Jones | Austin Chronicle
Its audacity is entirely matched by its artistry.Read full review4.5
Alonso Duralde | TheWrap
A stronger structure underpinning these emotions run amok would have benefitted the film, but then what would feelings be without a little messiness? For many viewers, giving their own Joy and Sadness a workout will be enough to make Inside Out a valuable experience.Read full review4.4
Michael Phillips | Chicago Tribune
The life of Riley is not exotic; her troubles are not unique. But they are rendered with serious imagination by Docter and company.Read full review4.4
Ty Burr | Boston Globe
It is a joy for audiences seeking entertainment, an ingenious work of craft for those paying close attention, and a wallop of feeling that’s still too rare coming from a cartoon.Read full review4.4
James Berardinelli | ReelViews
I won't argue that Inside Out is as profound or all-around engaging as "Toy Story 3," but the films succeed in many of the same ways.Read full review4.2
Jessica Kiang | The Playlist
Inside Out is not just fun and breezy, it's also truly weird and wicked smart in its thoroughly heartfelt conclusions.Read full review4.2
Peter Rainer | Christian Science Monitor
There’s real verve in the animation and wit in the byplay.Read full review4.0
Joe Walsh | CineVue
All of this is achieved with the signature levels of emotional intelligence that Pixar are renowned for. The level of detail with which they have created this world is staggering, with each aspect of the psyche carefully thought out.Read full review4.0
Dave Calhoun | Time Out London
At times, you ache to put the brakes on the chaos, but still Pixar manages to do with all this what they do best, turning the everyday rough and smooth of childhood experience into a thoughtful, inventive adventure, full of totally appropriate lurid and strange imagery.Read full review4.0
All this publication's reviews | Screen International
With most of the story of Inside Out playing out inside Riley’s mind – the child’s eyes providing the emotion-themed characters’ view of the outside world – the film offers ample scope for the creativity of the filmmaking team.Read full review3.8
All this publication's reviews | Slant Magazine
Both wonderfully complex and weirdly reductive at the same time—a formula, though, that seems as sound an embodiment of the human brain as any other.Read full review3.5
Andrew O'Hehir | Salon.com
It’s a lovely film that requires a little patience and a friendly disposition, and may be too low-impact to thrive amid a summer of grotesquely overengineered sequels.Read full review