Just finished watching Pixar's new film "Soul" and absolutely loved it! I was drawn (ouch!) to the animated film when I heard it dealt with "The Great Before" which is basically the between lives state that I call the Non-Physical Experience. But that was only a minor part of the film; it truly was about "Soul" - what it is, what it is to have it, and what it is to lose it. (Mild spoilers follow.) It's a beautiful story that resonates with spiritual themes as well as a love of jazz, but you won't have to be a fan of jazz music to appreciate this film. The music is astonishing and unique; it's split between the jazz piano that the main characters plays and listens to —composed and performed by Jon Baptiste — and the music of the between world, perfectly brought to life by Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails fame!) and Atticus Ross. Director Pete Docter is known (and appreciated by me) for delving into deep emotional and spiritual terrain in his previous films - Up, Inside Out and Wall-E. As in those films, some of the emotional highlights are done without dialogue, just a montage of visuals and that incredible music. And I was very glad that some of Pixar’s “Let’s make this into a video game” elements were not evident, something which detracted from the emotional core of Docter’s previous efforts “Monsters University” and even “Inside Out.”
Some of the deeper elements are fascinating; this is not a kid's movie (but there's probably enough cartoon elements to keep them happy.) "Soul" addresses and portrays lost souls who've been disconnected from life plus my favorite: The Zone: the space between the physical and the spiritual. There are references to a shamanic ceremony and since the film is set in a magically realist New York City, there's even a cameo by Pizza Rat of YouTube fame. It's not the film I was expecting; in fact, there's no mention of reincarnation or Past Lives. The film portrays children's personalities being loaded into body's operating system instead of carried over from a previous life. But it beautifully captures Soul and I highly recommend it.