It doesn’t happen often these days (as I get older) that a movie hits me as hard and can get such a reaction out of me as Soul did and still does. The premise is simple, a guy who tried all his life to get a chance to live his dreams finally succeeds, only to then die. Before he moves on to the great beyond he flees to the great before, where blank souls are shepherded to being born, and meets a soul who hasn’t managed to get ready yet and chosen after thousands of years of trying not to anymore and just not live at all. Working together with this lost soul he manages to get back to his body but learns a great deal about himself and what he really wants in life, or at least what’s really important.
It’s both simple and elegant how Pixar has packaged that message and while I usually don’t like their style that often for me borders on emotional manipulation here it just really hit. We all search for meaning, making sense of life, but very few movies or in general few stories manage to be so kind about it. We all feel lost from time to time, need a hand stretching out to us and pick us up, but forget that those helping us might be just as lost, and its really about helping each other and not trying to perfect life a 100% as if it were a game, but instead just to live as best as we kind while being helpful to others (at least that’s my philosophy).
I also have to mention that I really love almost everything about the design of the souls and the afterlife here. It’s a great contrast between the segments in the real world and yet it feels like such a neat wholesome approach. I don’t believe in anything beyond the mere material, but if I could choose an afterlife, then the one from this movie would be a fine choice IMHO.
The Entropy Pump 