Priscilla Shirer Shares Powerful Biblical Message From 'Inside Out 2'

Author and speaker Priscilla Shirer says the animated film Inside Out 2 The film has a biblical message that is not to be missed. Shirer said as much in an Instagram video on her feed shortly after she and her family watched the Disney/Pixar hit, which tells the story of a 13-year-old girl named Riley who is going through puberty and dealing with a flood of new emotions for the first time in her life. The film gives viewers an up-close look at her anthropomorphized emotions: joy, fear, sadness, disgust and anger, as well as new emotions: anxiety, envy, embarrassment and boredom.

Towards the end of the film, anxiety takes over Riley’s emotions.

“There’s this passage where Joy looks Anxiety in the face and says, ‘Let her go.’ I’m just saying I felt something in my spirit at that moment,” Shirer said. “I’m saying maybe the Spirit of the living God was in that sentence. Joy says to Anxiety, ‘Let her go.’”

“I say the joy of the Lord is your strength,” Shirer added. “I say the Scripture says, ‘Do not be anxious about anything.’”

Inside Out 2 exceeded box office expectations, grossing $154 million in the United States in its opening weekend and over $450 million to date, making it the highest-grossing film of the year, easily ranking second. Dune: Part Two ($282 million).

It is the sequel to the 2015 blockbuster Upside down, which chronicles Riley’s journey as her family moves from the familiar Midwest to an unfamiliar new home in San Francisco.

In Inside Out 2Riley enters puberty and goes to a summer hockey camp with her friends. There, she experiences a wave of new emotions—mostly anxiety and embarrassment—before rediscovering joy.

The film stars Amy Poehler as Joy, Kensington Tallman as Riley, Tony Hale as Fear and Phyllis Smith as Sadness. It is rated PG for thematic elements.

Related article: 3 Things Parents Should Know About Inside Out 2

Photo credit: ©Disney/Pixar/Instagram/PriscillaShirer

Michel Foust He has been covering the intersection of faith and current events for 20 years. His articles have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.