It’s sadly all too easy overlook relatively low profile new releases during the pandemic and so I don’t think too many people have watched this. I added this my list because I heard it’s similar in some ways to Inside Out which I loved. This is indeed the case and the film does actually make some bold claims with regards to the metaphysics of how personalities arise. Unfortunately the film builds up to some epiphany about the meaning of life and in the end it just can’t deliver anything particularly original or impactful and so feels truncated as a result.

Joe Gardner makes a living by being a teacher but his real passion in life is being a jazz pianist. He is unenthusiastic when the school offers him a full time position but ecstatic when he aces an audition to perform at a club. Unfortunately while distracted he falls into a manhole and wakes up to find himself a disembodied soul in the afterlife. Being determined not to die while his dreams are on the verge of coming true, he tries to escape and ends up in the Great Before where unborn souls are prepared to be sent to Earth. In a case of mistaken identity, Joe is assigned to be a mentor to one such soul, 22, who has resisted all attempts to begin life on Earth despite being mentored by numerous other famous personalities across thousands of years. Since 22 doesn’t want to go to Earth anyway, she decides to help Joe get back to Earth by getting an Earth pass and hand it to Joe. Later they also encounter Moonwind, a mystic on Earth who is able to access the afterlife by entering a trance.

As with Inside Out, this film is all about an exploration of the metaphysics of what forms a person. It is kind of abstract that way and I suspect only adults would be able to really understand the point. The only antagonist is the overzealous accountant Terry who insists on setting the count of departed souls right and he is basically just another comedic character. As usual, the art and character designs are fantastic and it is surprising how much personality they can infuse into the bobbing souls. I really like the character of Joe Gardner as well as an adult, not a child or adolescent, who is still trying to realize his dreams even while he has a complete and otherwise fulfilling life. The humor of swapping bodies and having Joe inside a cat is kind of cheap but I suppose it is effective enough.

As mature as the premise is however, it sort of fizzes out towards the end. I think what it is working towards is Joe’s realization that an obsessive pursuit of a singular dream isn’t the key to happiness and that the appreciation and love of life can be found in every moment. But it sort of hesitates to explicit state that right out. When the barber admits that he gave up on his own dream but is content with what he has now, it should be treated a more significant learning moment, but Joe seems more impressed about 22 being able to get people to open up than in what the barber has to say. Similarly the ending feels too abrupt. It feels to me that it needs something to provide proper closure, some concrete scenes of Joe appreciating more the aspects of his life that are not all about his music.

I’ve noted before that advocating for the pursuit of your dream above all else is a very common trope in fiction, especially those oriented primarily towards youth. But I feel that this isn’t always healthy or sustainable. I think this film is going in the right direction in saying a person isn’t defined by a single purpose in life but I believe it sends mixed messages by setting this up to be the case at the beginning and then not pivoting hard enough away from it. It’s weird for example to have Joe successfully convince his mother that this really is what he wants and then still be unsatisfied afterwards. It would have been more original to have his mother successfully convince Joe that music is important but it’s still just one of the many things that give his life meaning. I kept hoping that Joe would fully realize how important it is to teach music to his students, not just to play it himself, but that moment never comes. As it is, I feel that this film is something of a missed opportunity and ends with a whimper instead of a bang.