Review of Turning Red (2022) by Averagecitizen — 12 Mar 2022

This movie is a fresh take on the coming-of-age story, which I'm now realizing is usually set a few years too late for it to be of any use to the kids who need it. The panda-persona is our 13-year-old-girl protagonist's pent-up emotions pushing to the surface at the onset of puberty, including but not limited to humorously innocent "sexy thoughts", Tina Belcher style.

At first I was surprised they'd make a kids movie about a sexual awakening, but really, why not? It happens to all of us. Kids who are too young to understand won't care, and now when it happens they'll have a familiar, harmless, low-stakes launching point for understanding and conversation.

For the movie alone, I'd give it a 7.5, but I'm giving it a 9 because serving this age and gender an adventure on the reality of their upcoming sexuality is risky. And, considering how controversial it is proving, it was a risk that maybe should've been taken a long time ago.