Riley has only ever felt Joy, Anger, Sadness, Disgust and Fear since the first Inside Out movie, which was released on July 19, 2015. All five emotions have always decided how Riley should feel, from expressing sadness to happy and having mixed feelings. It remains that way until Riley becomes 13 and hits puberty, and new emotions flood in — Anxiety, Embarrassment, Envy, and Ennui. Inside Out 2 was released in theaters on June 14, 2024, and began streaming on Disney+ on September 25, 2025. Anxiety only wants to protect Riley and help her fit in, but she’s doing the opposite. Joy and the other emotions will need to find a way to stop Anxiety from making an unhealthy sense of self for Riley.
In Inside Out 2, Riley is a typical teenager and is busy with school, friends, and hockey. Everything is fine for Joy and the other emotions until headquarters, the control center for Riley’s brain, becomes demolished and the new emotions, Anxiety, Embarrassment, Envy, and Ennui, move in. As all the emotions start to become comfortable, Anxiety becomes too settled in and begins to take control of headquarters. All the emotions find out that Riley’s role model, Valentina “Val” Ortiz — one the best hockey players for the Red Hawks– is coming to hockey camp and Anxiety does everything it takes to make Riley become friends with Val and get placed on the same team as her. When Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust start disagreeing with Anxiety’s plan, Anxiety places them in a jar and sets them in Riley’s vault of secrets.
Anxiety is creating a bad sense of self for Riley and is projecting terrible thoughts making Riley see herself as a bad person. Joy and the other emotions will need to find a way back to headquarters but will also need to get back Riley’s sense of self. Inside Out 2 is a sensational movie because of how well they depict what a teen goes through. It also centers more on the other emotions and their character development since Inside Out. The imagery of scenes were well done such as the Sar-Chasm, known as Riley’s sarcasm and The Brainstorm, representing where ideas come from. Riley’s personality and character also is shown more letting viewers see who she is and her character development.
Inside Out 2 shows the many aspects of being a teen, from trying to fit in to stressing about puberty. It’s a film that many adults and teenagers can relate to. It also teaches younger kids what is yet to come when they grow up. Five days after Inside Out 2 was released it had gained over 30.5 million streams. The movie has also become one of Disney’s biggest films since Encanto in 2021. The film does have some second-hand embarrassing moments to show the humiliating moments teenagers have in life. Inside Out 2 has helped kids and parents understand each other, as kids find it easier to open up and parents understand what their kid is going through. There may be more Inside Out movies to come as Riley still has adulthood to live through.
