Turning Red
2022
**½
Director: Domee Shi
Cast: Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Hyein Park, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Orion Lee, Wai Ching Ho, Tristan Allerick Chen, James Hong
Mei is an A+ student and a good girl who hides her true interests from her tiger mother. Now that she is 13, she discovers that losing control of her emotions transforms her into a big red panda. This disappointing Pixar animation depicts a Chinese immigrant family who live in Toronto in 2002. If this sound like an oddly specific time and place, it's because back then director Domee Shi was a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian growing up in Toronto. Everything Everywhere All at Once was a wonderfully original portrayal of a Chinese American mother and daughter, but I'm not sure Shi's personal story has a wider appeal. The film kicks off with an annoyingly chirpy character introduction. It does eventually improve a bit, but this animation is not funny or moving like Pixar's best. Is the red panda a metaphor for menstruation? At first it seems so, but then it just becomes a red panda. But what is the ultimate message of Mei's story? When your child turns 13, let her make all her decisions.
