If you only see the promotional posters for Soul you’d be forgiven for assuming it’s simply a grounded biography of an affable musician (and his cat). In fact, it’s a characteristically ambitious and visually breath-taking treat from Pixar which tugs on one’s heartstrings as much as it raises existential and metaphysical questions.
Meek, unassertive music teacher Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx) has spent his life yearning to play alongside the greats of the jazz world, and deep down knows his prodigious talent is being squandered teaching ungrateful kids how to crank out a tune. And yet he passively glides through life, underappreciating the simple joys and forming regrets at every turn. That is, until the bluest of moons appears and he gets the chance to fill in for a player in jazz legend Dorothea Williams’ (Angela Bassett) band. He nails it, so much in fact that he’s invited to perform again and Joe departs with his head in the clouds and promptly falls to his death down an open manhole. Yep.
Here’s where our “fish out of water” story begins as Joe’s soul finds himself (itself?) on a moving stairway to the ‘Great Beyond’. However, he’s just had his most defining and fulfilling moment in the real world, and will be damned if he doesn’t see it through. In defiance, he flees in the opposite direction and jumps into the darkness below to arrive in the ‘Great Before’, where new souls are born and each is moulded with a “unique and individual personality”. It’s here where he meets the beyond troublesome 22 (Tina Fey), where he’s mixed up with another (far more accomplished) mentor and tasked with helping her find a “spark” - something that will lead her to a happy life on Earth.
The score is naturally lovely, with punchy visuals and colours bringing the trance-like jazz solos in the movie to life. The revelations inspire us to take control; to avoid treading the same path Joe did in his physical life, and to re-examine the things we take for granted (the latter of which is of peak poignance during a stand-out montage sequence). We're reminded that life is a blessing, even if it doesn't go as planned. Of all the things in this cruel world which might be a source of regret, one thing you certainly won’t is watching Soul.
- Sarah Nevard
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