Classic Review #44: Soul

Available on Disney+

Arguably Pixar’s last truly great film, Soul is a life-affirming experience that manages to be simultaneously daring in its reach (venturing as far as the astral plane) and incredibly simplistic in its messaging, with its primary motif being that life is precious and not to be wasted.

The film’s screenplay, co-written by Kemp Powers (One Night in Miami) and Mike Jones, follows a disillusioned middle school teacher (Jamie Foxx) who dreams of fulfilling his ‘life’s purpose’ of being a revered jazz musician, only for his dreams to be dashed by a fatal accident that leaves him in a coma. What follows is a quest to reunite his soul with his body whilst also mentoring a recalcitrant unborn soul (Tina Fey) in need of their ‘spark’.

As well as this ingenious premise, Soul is significant for being the first Pixar film to feature a black lead, a feat which is underpinned by affectionate cultural nods that were overseen by an internal ‘cultural trust’ composed of black Pixar employees, and musical sequences that were constructed from real-life sessions led by Jon Batiste.

Like director Pete Docter’s other triumphs (Monsters, Inc., Up, and Inside Out), Soul possesses that rare quality of being both entertaining and educational, and is an uplifting essay not on the meaning of life, but on its value.