Review of Turning Red, directed by Domee Shi

Turning Red is one of those movies that I heard so much about, but then ended up never watching because my to-do list is truly never ending. I wanted to watch Turning Red, but never really found the perfect opportunity to sit down and watch the movie. So you’re probably thinking: what ended up bringing me to this point?

Well, I was on a flight back from San Diego on Delta at the time and had nothing to do, so I pressed play and sat back in the uncomfortable seat I was in.

And man, I wish I had seen this in a movie theater when it first came out. It would’ve been lovely to see, that’s for sure. Some Disney and Pixar movies as of late have been a miss for me, but I love movies about the AAPI experience, especially with a fantasy twist like this.

I’m truly glad we’ve been getting more of these kinds of films out in the world, and they’re getting the funding they need in the end.

Before I start rambling too much, let’s get into the review!

Middle schooler Mei finds herself in a peculiar situation: she turns into a red panda when her emotions are too strong.

Set in Toronto in the early 2000s, our protagonist is Mei, who lives with her parents. After school each day, she returns home to the family temple, dedicated to their ancestor, and studies hard in order to make herself, and her parents, proud. But she also hides certain things from her parents, especially her mother.

All of Mei’s friends are obsessed with a boy pop band called 4*Town, and Mei has a crush on the local convenience store clerk.

She hides all of this because her mother is too overprotective; when she finds Mei’s journal outlining her crush, she confronts the boy even, embarrassing Mei. But when Mei has a nightmare of red pandas one night, she wakes up and finds out she, too, is a massive red panda.

As she hides from her parents, she learns she transforms when she’s really emotional. She manages to turn back into a human, but her hair is red, and her mother thinks that Mei is having a period. Her mother learns the truth when she comes to school, embarrassing Mei even more and getting her to transform into a panda on the spot.

When Mei returns home, her parents explain that this is a maternal ancestry for her, and that their ancestor, who the temple is dedicated to, did the same thing.

In the old days this used to be a source of pride, but not in the modern day at all. They can seal the red panda spirit into a talisman on the night of the lunar eclipse, which they plan to do. In the mean time, Mei’s friends find out about it and just think it’s cool.

Mei goes back to school, but her mother refuses to let her go to the concert for 4*Town coming up. The girls start a black market with Mei’s panda form, but when Mei’s at a party in her red panda form, she learns the concert is the night of the lunar eclipse.

She attacks the boy who’s hosting the party that night, and her mother finds out about everything, telling Mei and her friends that they’re bad influences and she cannot hang out with them. Mei’s family arrives for the ritual, and, in the middle of it, Mei decides to keep her red panda form.

She heads to the concert, has fun with her friends, but her mother, in a red panda form herself, disrupts it trying to get Mei back.

The rest of the family shows up, the women break their talismans and go into red panda form, but the band and Mei’s friends help sing to do the ritual. All of the women are sent to another plane, and they reconcile. The other women put their pandas in a talisman, but Mei decides to keep hers.

At the end of the film, Mei and her mother heal their relationship, Mei spends time with her friends, and uses her red panda form to bring more visitors to the family temple.

Overall Thoughts

This is such a cute movie with a lot of heart. Although we might roll our eyes at the boy bands and teenagers willing to give up everything, including being a panda, just go to a concert, it’s still endearing.

Like I said, I’m glad I watched this movie. It’s not a perfect movie, but it certainly has a lot of spirit and authenticity to its storyline when it pertains to the coming-of-age experience the main character (and her friends) have. Go watch it if you haven’t already.

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