Turning Red
2021, PG, 100 min. Directed by Domee Shi. Voices by Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Wai Ching Ho.
REVIEWED By Kimberley Jones, Fri., Feb. 9, 2024
In director Domee Shi’s terrific short film “Bao,” a helicopter mom gives birth to a steamed bun son, then, when he starts to itch for more independence, she swallows him whole. In the literalizing-our-anxieties sweepstakes, Shi one-upped herself in debut feature Turning Red, wherein 13-year-old Mei Lee’s extreme (and extremely relatable) mood swings cause her to morph into a giant, rampaging red panda. Set in early Aughts Toronto, Turning Red’s funny, sweet, and empathetic portrait of cultural identity, gentle teen rebellion, and tetchy mother-daughter relations gets an extra boost from fake boy band 4*Town, a dead-on aping of the era featuring original songs by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell. Released mid-pandemic, this straight-to-streaming Pixar picture now enjoys a belated, much-deserved berth in movie theatres. It’s perfectly delightful.
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June 13, 2025
