Turning Red

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Film review

Turning Red is a 2022 family/comedy animation movie directed by Domee Shi. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the first Pixar feature film solely directed by a woman. 

Mei Lee is a 13-year-old girl who lives in Toronto. Mei is very good academically and helps her parents look after their family temple dedicated to her maternal ancestor Sun Yee. Her best friends are Miriam, Priya and Abby. 

One night, Mei has a nightmare about red pandas. When she wakes up the next morning, she has turned into a red panda. She freaks out not knowing what to do. She soon discovers that she transforms when her emotions are high. She hides the panda situation from her parents and goes to school. She tries to stay calm and not let the absurdity of the fact that she can transform into a panda get the better of her. But Ming, her mother decides to pay her a visit at school upon being worried by her unusual behavior in the morning. She ends up humiliating Mei in front of her class. Mei runs back home while turning into a panda. 

After her emotional outburst, her parents explain to her that her transforming into a red panda is a hereditary blessing, and that it is nothing to be scared of. This gift was granted to Sun Yee so she could protect herself and her village during the time of war. What was a blessing back then, has now become a curse. However, the red panda spirit could be sealed into a talisman by a ritual. Mei feels relieved. 

The next day, her friends discover her transformation. Instead of being scared, they start liking her red panda form. 

Now, Mei and her friends wish to attend a concert of their favorite boy band 4*Town. But Ming does not approve of her going to the concert. So, they start making money secretly, hoping to sneak out on the night of the concert. Mei uses her transformation as a way to collect money from people by agreeing for photo sessions and other activities with them. Her friends and Mei go to the school bully Tyler's house for his birthday party, without Ming's permission, of course. At the party, she finds out that the concert and the ritual were to happen on the same day. She gets furious and lashes out at Tyler, thus scaring everyone and ruining the party. 

When Ming realizes that Mei has been collecting money for the concert, she gets enraged and blames Mei's friends. Mei is too scared to defend her friends and ends up losing them. 

On the night of the ritual, Jin, Mei's father finds happy videos of panda-Mei and her friends having fun. He talks to Mei and asks her not to be ashamed of her panda-form. This brings a change of attitude in Mei and she decides to keep her panda-form. She ditches the ritual to attend the concert. She finds her friends and Tyler at the concert and reconciles with them. 

Mei happily enjoys the concert unaware of the fact that she broke Ming's talisman while escaping. Ming has now transformed into a big red panda, much bigger than the Mei-panda. She comes to the concert in full rage to bring Mei back home. Her panda form is even bigger than the concert stadium. Everyone at the stadium gets terrified and run for their lives. Mei is shocked to see her mother in her panda form as she approaches her. 

They start fighting and Ming starts to get out of control, destroying everything. Mei's grandmother and aunts arrive in time to help Mei. They break their talismans and transform into pandas to save Mei from Ming. They somehow manage to drag Ming into the ritual circle. When the ritual begins, both Mei and Ming are sent into the astral plane. They talk out their issues and solve their problems. Mei tells Ming that she is overprotective, and no matter what she does, Ming does not appreciate her. Ming realizes how strict she has been and tells Mei that she only said and did things for her safety. Both of them apologize to each other and Mei meets Sun Yee before returning. 

After the incident, Mei and Ming's relationship improves. Mei now loves her panda form as much as her friends do. 

Turning Red is a unique movie that teaches us to embrace our unique selves and abilities. The mother-daughter relationship is an important theme of the movie. The movie signifies the value of maintaining strong relationships and understanding one another. 
Through Mei, the movie shows the life of a teenage girl trying to face the challenges of adolescence while dealing with her personal problems. Through Ming, the movie shows a mother's love for her daughter and how she is willing to take any measures for the well-being of her child.  

Turning Red is a one-of-a-kind film and the element of fantasy makes it even more interesting.






My ★★★★½ review of Turning Red on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/3yjnbz.

This post is a part of #BlogChatterA2Z 2023.
Previous post: Summertime Sadness
Next post: Until Next Time !





     


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