Soul (2020)

A musician who has lost his passion for music is transported out of his body and must find his way back with the help of an infant soul learning about herself.
Cast and Information
Directed By: Pete Docter, Kemp Powers
Written By: Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Richard Ayoade, Tina Fey, Phylicia Rashad, Alice Braga, Rachel House, Graham Norton
Genres: Comedy, Family/Kids, Adventure, Animation
Country: USA
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Soul belongs to 27 collections
1. ..smoke it to the butt. (public: monclivie)
2. Best of criticker: Family/Kids (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr)
3. Best of criticker: Animation (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 9 stars)
4. Best of criticker: Adventure (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 1 star)
5. Best of criticker: Comedy (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 6 stars)
6. Feature Length Pixar Films (collaborative: moderated by pupetman64 - 17 stars)
7. Trent Reznor (composer) (collaborative: moderated by djross - 1 star)
8. Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (Oscar) (collaborative - 4 stars)
9. Academy Award Nominees for Best Animated Feature (public: gcat - 2 stars)
10. Films I saw in the cinema (public: Malcym)
11. My Movie Collection (public: elhenzo)
12. Pixar (collaborative: moderated by donmezsefa)
13. Disney+ (collaborative: moderated by saudade - 5 stars)
14. Best of criticker: 2020 (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr)
15. C-Animation (public: cantahta)
16. Dämon 2020 (public: caffe)
17. Best by different standards (public: sesito71 - 6 stars)
18. 78th Golden Globe Awards: Nominated (2021) ~d~ (public: 5Z5qjRCfM2)
19. Availability: Disney+ and Star Canada (collaborative: moderated by geohawk - 1 star)
20. 2021 Academy Awards: Nominated Feature Films (collaborative: moderated by joel-w-m - 3 stars)
21. 2021 Oscar (public: Ozancan)
22. Oscars 2020-2021 Winners (public: truman.rose)
23. unwatched (public: Zangy)
24. DtC Doubling the Canon 2023 Nominees (collaborative: moderated by lineuphere - 1 star)
25. Blu-ray Collection (public: TripEuphoric)
26. Turkish Airlines (collaborative: moderated by ceseth)
27. Magical Realism (collaborative: moderated by mynameisdoug)
Browse the full list of collections
Stars | User | Rating | |
8 | ![]() |
Leonardis | 97 95th |
Pixar's most mature, down to earth story yet. I loved the films exploration of purpose and how we should spend our life. Joe's final words have stuck with me for days after viewing. The animation is stellar, the characters are very relatable and charming, and the story is oh so original. It amazes me that Pixar is still perfectly capable of making fresh stories. In a year full of hardships and unexpected change from this pandemic, this was a perfect movie to end the year on. Fantastic.
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BillyShears | 80 77th |
I am going to have some serious words with my soul mentor.
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Ytadel | 7 83rd |
(Ytadel’s pre-birth soul is in the Great Before) “Send that soul through the Hall of Crippling Internet and Video Game Addiction! And the Tunnel of Excessive Fixation on Boobs! And the Obelisk of Social Awkwardness!”
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goremeat | 80 76th |
Soul plays in the space between Life's Little Moments and Purpose for giving us our "meaning of life". It is nicely paced, and?in true Pixar form?it would be fine to watch with basically any audience. However Soul is quite... manufactured. So expect a lovely well-executed Pixar template rather than anything innovative. Some awesome animation of piano hands...
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5 | ![]() |
bof | 67 53rd |
In which a white woman who's literally spent her entire existence in a void teaches a black man that there's more to life than jazz.
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Corbad | 55 23rd |
Its ineffective subversion and weirdly complex areligious soul concepts eviscerate what is, in the end, a simple message that has been seen before and much better in other works. Impactless and unfocused, the film feels long and boring, its moral/emotional climax utterly hollow and empty. Nothing in this worked for me.
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Luna6ix | 84 86th |
Yet another slam dunk from Pixar. By now they're not pushing the envelope in computer animation like they were in the 90's and 00's, but instead they've settled into a tried and tested formula for a true all-ages movie with complex emotional messages. But while "Soul" isn't a stand-out Pixar movie, it comes from a studio with a catalogue so good, it's still excellent.
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aross | 85 86th |
Pixar is always doing animated movies that try to be mature, but this one wants to be deeper. Somewhat in the same vein of Inside Out, but better. I enjoyed the story, the jazz music, and there were some laughs. I only have a half complaint: there weren't lots of great, fun characters like in some Pixar movies, but that's because the movie focuses on the main two.
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coffee | 80 74th |
Cool movie but the ending was filmsy and the story was a little similar to Wreck-it Ralph. Not comparing to the previous Pixar masterpieces, this is a good animation.
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maddog | 83 80th |
While a bit clumsy in its delivery (looking at you, afterlife structure), Soul nonetheless teaches something very valuable, in a way that needs to be realized more than it can be stated: no matter how important living for one thing is- that can never truly be living. That broader embrace is what the film teaches- but. There is a choice at the end of it that the main character has, and I think it would have been more valuable had he declined.
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KasperL | 80 86th |
It has another incredibly original premise, but because the high highs all take place in New York (as opposed to in The Great Before), I kind of wish that this had been a more simple drama. But hey, said highs are absolutely beautiful, and the animation in Pixar's latest is, hands down, the most stunning from the studio so far.
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Obdurate | 85 80th |
The riff on the Disney intro was funny. The first bit of the film was definitely entertaining but I was scared I'd be disappointed if it continued down the path. It became much better with a good number of laughs once Joe met 22, and from that point on it was legitimately great. What can be said? Of course the animation is good, though the afterlife left a little to be desired. Of course it has the emotional gut punch later on. Of course it's charming. It's Pixar.
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TheRealJ-Ro | 85 84th |
"Can't crush a soul here; that's what life on Earth is for!" Yeah, this movie's definitely got it. This feels like such a significant step forward in Pixar's animation; they did things here with lighting, facial expressions, and inspired effects that I don't believe I've ever seen before. What I have seen before - and what Disney/Pixar usually always excels at - is a well-told story with tons of heart and plenty to think about, child or adult. Another one in the books for this incredible team.
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JacoIII | 15 4th |
It's particularly putrid that this film, which is expressly about how it's an individual's responsibility to "live life to the fullest", came out while world governments abandoned their most vulnerable citizens to die in poverty as plutocrats ate caviar from condor skulls. Most people are actively being prevented from "living well" by external forces, this is a fact of life. "Soul" cost $150 million and contains about 5 cents worth of social critique. The cat was funny.
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Okkervil | 78 79th |
Visually and artistically perhaps Pixar’s most arresting and admirable film to date. It’s so technically brilliant in every respect that ‘Soul’ feels like it should be punching with Pixar’s very best, but it definitely lacks the emotional heft of Pixar at their manipulative best. The narrative doesn’t quite knit together in the final third and some of the more ethereal concepts don’t really work for me. Very fine nonetheless.
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Velvet Crowe | 52 53rd |
The concept for the afterlife is interesting, but thematically its play on life's purpose is one-note. The core point of life's purpose going beyond merely completing certain goals is valid, but its treatment of the goal in question is juvenile. Yes, people may not feel absolute after completing a life goal but that does not mean the achievement in question will have no value, especially if it pays well. The character swap is a neat idea, but they did little to pursue it beyond the surface.
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mattorama12 | 73 71st |
Really touching and innovative. It is absolutely crazy how Pixar can continue to push the envelope in terms of imaginative stories, as well as animation itself. Just a great ride.
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Gwaihir_15 | 85 73rd |
Like Souls, great animation can communicate wildly complex ideas with head-spinning clarity and wit. It seems body-swapping theme serves as a great tool for explaining the value and bittersweetness of life, but it is not as fresh as it seems. Even so, to construct this through a musical genre like jazz that appeals to soul... That is truly original and genious!
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Filligan | 92 85th |
Soon kids these days won't even need competent parents to become well-adjusted adults because they'll have Pixar's library (save the Cars trilogy). For me, Soul does the impossible of both drawing on Inside Out's themes of being human while also topping them. While Inside Out made me bawl, Soul made me cry on a deeper level, made me more reflective of my mortality and humanityof *our* humanity. A blessed, funny triumph.
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angrypierre | 87 88th |
Really, really imaginative. Does a fantastic job of dealing with some very heavy subject matter in an accessible and child friendly way. While for me it didn't quite have the same emotional impact as Inside Out, this is yet another example of Pixar doing their Pixar thing and executing a novel idea completely out of the park.
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Difontaine | 85 88th |
I swear Pixar like to make life hard for themselves. "The afterlife, the potential of the soul and jazz". And because it's Pixar they nail it. Not to the extent of Coco or Inside Out or Toy Story 3, but still, a properly good film.
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Langelund (CinemaZone.dk) | 60 47th |
Don't believe the hype. Truly original, technically flawless - and quite frankly - a bit boring.
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2 | ewalters | 72 36th |
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This City Slickers remake seems to lack its titular characteristic - that being, soul. Perhaps Soul references jazz rather than the human spirit, but for me the all-star cast could not save this film from being a predictable watch and another safe bet for Disney.
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Bown | 82 62nd |
More good Pixar shit. Not much new if you’re familiar with their output, but it certainly goes to more places than the trailer would suggest.
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FrederikA | 75 77th |
Yet another wonderful existentialistic tale from Pixar, that ultimately falls short of being in the same league as the most obvious comparisons: Inside-Out and Coco by copping out on the premise, opting for a sweeter, less thematically satisfying ending. But hey.... we've reached the point in history where Trent fucking Reznor has (co)created the soundtrack for a kids' movie, and for that alone, Soul should be celebrated.
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Jerky | 80 96th |
Glad to see they're bringing back "body switching" movies. We definitely didn't get enough of them during the 80's!
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glumpy_99 | 57 15th |
Scattered, unfocused Pixar effort starts well, with the initial evocation of death/afterlife intriguing and even dryly funny, with Foxx more or less perfect as the likably befuddled "Teach". Goes downhill once Fey's "22" is introduced, meandering around in some episodic and overly familiar "wacky adventures" before trying a hand break turn into unearned schmaltzy sentiment in the final reel. Still well-cast and semi-enjoyable on that basis; colourfully and attractively animated.
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2 | Sadman | 85 81st |
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[Norwegian dub] Life-affirming existentialism in a kids movie. Never saccharine, nor ponderous but constantly joyous. The imagination at display during the metaphysical parts is wonderful, Pixar and animation in general at it's absolute finest. The score during these sequences, by the masterminds Reznor&Ross, is unique but works so well, giving the movie a propulsive, genre-breaking energy.
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FoxyRussian | 99 98th |
Wow. Pixar really took the concept of having a soul and a afterlife and breathed life (ha) into it. Typical Pixar fashion, they created an amazing world and memorable characters. Soul, similar to Coco, captured the old early 00's magic of Pixar perfectly. The movie wasn't just a sequel and didn't just feel like it was made to make me cry and win and award, as recent Pixar has seemed to feel.
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Kuroel | 72 84th |
Profound and resonating message of compassion to oneself. The meaning of life is not what you do or what you aspire to be. Your purpose is to live and enjoy your life, every accolade and achievement happens on the side - or does not. Either way a fleeting moment of success is but a moment. I think this is the closest we've come to a major studio feature animation that is intended for adults. (Ghibli: Am I a joke to you?) But it's not _quite_ there yet. The ending was a cop out.
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amazedemon | 74 90th |
While the central conceit of Inside Out was over-simplistic, Soul manages to strike the right balance between the conceptual & the thematic. The voice acting leaves a bit to be desired; Foxx & Norton were great, Braga's accent was a bit too heavy, but Fey's performance was the only one to come with an explanation (or justification). It might have been more interesting for Foxx to imitate her while on Earth. The carpe diem moment at the end, undermines a surprisingly mature theme of fulfilment.
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nobamba | 70 76th |
Went into this blind and was surprised Joe got killed immediately. I then thought it was going to be like Inside Out which I still haven't seen. The afterlife bits get confusing. Nice overall message about life and appreciating the little things. Over time I'll probably end up liking this film more. Fav scene: barbershop, when we get a reality check that Joe's been too self-involved with his music and hadn't care about others, plus first dreams can be replaced by making the most out of life.
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Grouchy | 57 13th |
Despite the appealing style and premise this is one of the worst Pixar films. The inner logic of its world makes no damn sense and the message of the story is muddled and confusing.
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driscarpin | 94 93rd |
A Pixar é perita em fazer animação para adulto com depressão, embora muita gente ache que é para criança, esse aqui não chegue a ser a obra-prima que é Inside Out, mas possui uma soma de temática e intento sem defeitos que mesmo a amargura e cinismo de quem já sofreu pra caralho não conseguem vencer. WEBRip RARBG.
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Nathan S | 5 93rd |
Pixar isn't unfamiliar with kid-friendly existentialism, but Soul is rather more ambitious and sophisticated than most of the studio's output. A trite jazz metaphor might describe its somewhat scattered and unsure heading, but I find this to be a nuanced reconciliation of the idea that precedents often beyond our own control don't prevent self-actualization. It's a beautiful film, not least of all because it's the first time in many years that I've been floored by the fidelity of 3D animation.
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Mentaculus | 84 80th |
The film's truly unfortunate negative is that it switches up its "footing", so to speak, so often, the audience never quite knows where it's going and so where to focus. Yet, and yet - when it finds its space and breathes into its characters, like when a pianist improvises a melody with half-remembered pieces of garbage that ends up meaning the world - it does. Pining artists have never had a patron saint quite like Gardner, whose name tells you all you need to know.
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msprague | 90 96th |
Lovely animation, lovely story.
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Vandelay1 | 47 48th |
worth a watch
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Zealot185 | 83 78th |
This takes the emotional concepts explored in Inside Out to a much deeper level of what it means to be human and wraps it around a very heartful character arc. I enjoyed Inside Out more, but this still packed a heavy punch. Loved the music and animation.
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moraesfelipe | 50 33rd |
Pretty much a self-help colorful and just not weird enough -- and when it feels strange and less INSPIRATIONAL, it is just great -- colorful book with concepts as profound as "sparks", purpose and carpe diem shit like that. Also, why sometimes it seems like this ancient, bright, middle-white-woman voiced soul lives Joe's life better than him? What the fuck. Leave this guy alone and let him have the day of his life, at least in an animated film. Go read Lennox Orion's article on this.
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1 | tef | 70 23rd |
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I found it boring and uncompelling.
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CosmicMonkey | 85 86th |
A-Rate Pixar. The ending might have been predictable, but the journey to get there was filled with so much joy and wonder and charm that I didn't mind at all. The first Pixar film in over a decade to feel completely original and unique and it's most philosophical and adult-oriented film to date. What the film has to teach us about life is very important and is not something I've ever seen from another film, & it's journey into diversity is much deeper, genuine and heart-felt than simple tokenism
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kgbelliveau | 95 91st |
A beautiful and imaginative movie that takes you on an adventure to discover the smaller things in life. Wonderfully animated and well written it plays on the themes of living before it's too late. Enjoy things for what they are, experiences.
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AndreasThau | 82 81st |
Had me laughing and thinking. That's good, as that doesn't happen too often anymore.
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1 | myfavchords | 78 69th |
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The directors do a good job at making this an interesting and entertaining film. The voice cast does a good job with their roles in this movie. The script has a lot of interesting moments but there are a couple of times that it makes unexpected choices. Overall I would recommend this animated adventure.
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eCitizen | 50 49th |
Sometimes cute movie with a heaping helping of metaphysical nonsense. It was somewhat enjoyable for such a dumb premise.
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hotsake | 83 95th |
This is by far the best film Pixar has put out in quite some time. I was hoping for more teaching scenes with Joe and the kids. There were lots of touching scenes and at least half of the jokes landed.
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magdabag | 94 92nd |
I love this movie so much and don't really have the words to explain why. Pixar's most mature film to date for sure, but It still holds all of it's iconic humor and heart. One of the best films of year. Would HIGHLY recommend this to anyone and everyone.
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flipzo | 86 73rd |
Not traumatic as Up! or Coco. Beautiful, another great Pixar movie.
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1 | daveyp | 85 87th |
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Lovely film. Reminiscent of Inside Out but a lot better. The before life world is a visual feast and probably the best looking animation Pixar have created. We'll voice, good characters and a nice message about the meaning of life.
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Iamdwg (Interpreting the Stars) | 75 49th |
What can I say about "Soul"? I think this is one of those movies I had high expectations for, but the end result was....fine? I wasn't as blown away as others were with this one. Great animation, for sure, and a decent premise, but I couldn't really relate to any of the characters. I would say, for Pixar, this was...average. If it was any other studio, I'd probably think it was above average.
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Shitbanger | 72 14th |
Terrible third act.
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1 | jimmyp | 70 39th |
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It's a Pixar film so you know that they are going to manipulate you as much as they can and they do a good job here. The problem is: it all feels like old hat at this point.
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1 | tubasaxt | 95 93rd |
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Deep enough for the grownups, cute enough for the kids. Lots of laughs in the middle. It didn't quite hit me as well as Inside Out did, but it came close.
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Narg | 63 60th |
Good, but not quite great. Flies by at some points and loses momentum at others, while not having the emotional or psychological nuance of Inside Out. I also actively disliked having an adult person voice 22, that just seems like the flat out wrong decision. Having said that: it has great music, and it earnestly inspires passion for life or jazz or jazzing, or whatever gets you as a unique individual going.
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Quintonjamin | 80 80th |
Rachel House from Hunt for the Wilderpeople is in it (kind of playing the same character?). There is something missing there to make this one of Pixar's best, but it's still moving and made extremely well. Spoiler: They should have just let him go to the great beyond at the end.
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1 | ik55 | 80 83rd |
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I'm not a big animated movies fan. Nor am I someone who derives great pleasure from discovering hidden morals watching them. But I must stay that with Soul, I enjoyed both aspects. This movie was funny and beautifully put together. From the dialogue with funny back-and-forth quips between the two main characters, to the peculiarly artistic style/concept of animations that they decided to use. With the exception of the first 20 minutes I had a really good time watching this.
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John2DS | 88 89th |
Such an unique, clever, funny and meaningful movie
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Average Percentile 65.52% from 2094 Ratings | ![]() |