Maybe think of this as “Outside In.” Pixar’s latest is like a bookend to one of its all-time best, “Inside Out.” That was a brilliant exploration of the inner life of a girl as she is beginning to feel the conflicted, intensified emotions of the middle school years, by creating characters representing her inner feelings of fear, disgust, joy, and sorrow. In “Turning Red,” we have another girl coping with puberty, but this time it is the girl herself who manifests the turmoil of adolescence in the most literal terms, turning into a huge red panda whenever she feels strong emotions.

Meilin Lee (Rosalie Chiang) is a 13-year-old living in Toronto who is confident. She tells us the number one rule is to honor your parents and she is very proud of herself for being a straight-A student and following the rules. She has loyal and supportive friends and is good at everything she tries. And being an official adult, at least in the eyes of the Toronto Transit Commission which no longer lets her ride for the children’s rate, has her feeling that she has it all on lock.

So you know that means it’s time for things to go south, right? Or maybe more like north, as Meilin’s pituitary gland is where the trouble is starting. Meilin likes to feel in control. Numbers and rules and predictability are her comfort zone. But life has many ways of reminding us that control is an illusion, and puberty is one of its most powerfully uncontrollable. “Inside Out” was a brilliant, illuminating depiction of the more cognitive and emotional side of developmental stages in the middle school years. “Turning Red” is about the even messier side, and there is very little in life that is messier or out of control than the early years of adolescence. All of this is presented in “Turning Red” with understanding, compassion, and a lot of humor — both the good humor of empathy and the downright hilarity that Mother Nature provides so we don’t all perish of humiliation during those years.

It is very rare that a movie makes me remember how much translating I have to do to immerse myself in most films. Even those made by women are rarely able to present unfiltered female perspectives. The male experience is still the assumed norm. With “Turning Red,” I felt like an ESL student taking a break to see a film in my native language. That is not just because it is the story of a girl or even because it deals with that first time when a girl’s “red peony is blooming.” It is because it is the story of the relationship between a mother and daughter (actually three generations of mothers and daughters), told by people who deeply understand both sides of that relationship and the sweetly sad experience of separating as an essential part of growing up. Co-writer/director Domee Shi was the first woman to direct a Pixar short film, and she won an Oscar for it. That was “Bao,” the story of a mother who missed her now-grown son and wished to have him as a child again. This film has the same empathy and insight. It is about emotions — recognizing and accepting them — as much as it is about hormones.

“Turning Red” does not try to explain itself or generalize. It recognizes that essential principle of storytelling — the more specific it is, the more universal. And so, while at least one male critic so far has thrown up his hands and said he is not the target audience (that did not stop him from reviewing it) and went on to dismiss whoever the movie might be directed at as very small, in fact the intended audience for any well-told human story is anyone who is human, and in this case anyone who has puberty in his, her, or their past or future and especially anyone who may be living with, teaching, coaching, or otherwise interacting with young people. Anyone who thinks that the experience of being a young girl is just too far outside of their perspective to relate do is definitely in need of stories that illuminate that experience, if only to understand the other half of the human race.

The film has wise and witty depictions of the fierce loyalty of middle school friends and the simultaneously delicious, terrifying, and embarrassing feelings of visceral physical attraction both direct (the boy behind the cash register) and indirect (a boy band so adorable you may find yourself wishing you could attend a concert and scream along with the fans, thanks in part to songs by Billie Eilish and Fineas). Pixar always has humor, but this one has more laugh-out-loud moments than we’ve seen from them before. And it has a joyful lesson about embracing the messiness that is clearly a heartfelt message from the kind of imaginative weirdos who go to work for Pixar to help us love the weirdos inside ourselves.

Parents should know that this movie deals frankly with puberty and hormones. There are some scenes of fantasy peril and some difficult family tensions.

Family discussion: How can you be a friend as loyal as Meilin’s? Would you have made the same choice that she does? What do we learn from Ming’s relationship with her own mother?

If you like this, try: “Inside Out”

“Uncharted” is most likely exactly as good as you hope it will be, and I say that as someone who hoped it was going to be a chases and stunts movie that was fun to watch. It achieves the primary goal of based-on-a-video-game movies, which is that the non-stunts parts like storyline and character don’t get in the way of the stunts parts, which are the reason we are there. There is just enough story and character to add enough emotion to the stunts to take the place of the engagement we feel when we are controlling part of the game.

It helps a lot that the two characters we are supposed to root for and identify with are played by Mark Wahlberg as Sully and Tom Holland as Nate, who bring their established star quality and connection to the audience to fill out the thinly drawn characters they are playing. Holland really takes over as a full-on action hero, even more than he is able to in the Spider-Man movies because there is no mask; he has to act his way through all of the action scenes and did I mention that the stunts are truly wild?

“Uncharted” begins with a “Fast and Furious”-level action scene that is absolutely bonkers. Huge chained-together cargo bundles are hanging out of a plane and Nate is hanging from one of them by a foot caught in the strap until he isn’t, and falls or jumps from one bundle to the other as bad guys are shooting at him and, yes, a fire-engine red sports car comes driving out of the cargo hold, which, let me remind you, is still in the back of a plane that is in the actual, okay green-screen but it looks actual, sky.

It’s the classic MacGuffin: lost pirate treasure. We don’t need to know anything else. We’re on board. Literally; pirate ships are involved and made to do things their builders could never have anticipated. There are objects that must be retrieved in order to find and access it. And there are people who team up and sometimes un-team up and sometimes fight each other to get it. That’s the storyline.

But mostly, there are some wild stunts, on land, water, and in the air. There are nods to (barely disguising lifts from) Indiana Jones, the “Fast and Furious” and “National Treasure” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, but hey, this is a movie where the heroes are thieves, so steal from the best. There are villains, meaning people who also want the treasure and are willing to take more extreme measure to get it. There is something between retaliation and revenge, the oldest of them all: “You killed my brother.”

The little hints of plot, motivation, and character never get in the way of the stunts, which are a hoot.

Parents should know that this movie has a lot of carnage for a PG-13, with video-game-like peril, injuries, and deaths. Many minor characters are killed without blood or consequences. Characters use strong language (many s-words) and drink, with scenes in bars.

Family discussion: How did Sully and Nate decide who they would trust? How did that change? How were their reasons for finding the treasure different?

If you like this, try: The Indiana Jones and “Fast and Furious” and “National Treasure” movies

Every family should observe Black History Month and movies like these are a good way to begin discussions and further study.

1. “Glory” The true story of the US Civil War’s first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of their own Union army and battling the Confederates, with brilliant performances by Denzel Washington (who won an Oscar), Morgan Freeman, and Matthew Broderick as the white officer who truly believed all men were equal.

2. “Something the Lord Made” The obstacles to education and professional advancement kept Vivien Thomas (Mos Def) from medical school, but he was a pioneer in heart surgery.

3. “Roots” Writer Alex Haley told the story of his own family going back to the capture of one of his ancestors from Africa to be sold into slavery in this historic miniseries.

4. “Amistad” A slave rebellion led to an historic Supreme Court case that addressed fundamental notions of personhood and inalienable rights.

5. “With All Deliberate Speed” This documentary about the Brown v. Board of Education case that transformed American schools and culture has interviews with lawyer Thurgood Marshall (who later became the first black Supreme Court justice) and others involved in the case.

6. “Malcolm X” Denzel Washington is mesmerizing in this story of the incendiary leader and his journey from complacency to activism to understanding.

7. “Eyes on the Prize” This PBS documentary covers the Civil Rights movement from the murder of Emmett Till to the march in Selma.  There is also an excellent sequel. Many feature films cover this history including “Selma” and “Boycott.”

8. “The Rosa Parks Story” Angela Bassett stars as the Civil Rights activist whose refusal to give up her seat on the bus electrified the nation.

9. “The Loving Story” The name of this history-making couple was really Loving.  Their inter-racial marriage led the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the laws against miscegenation in 1967. “Loving” is the superb feature film based on their story.

10. “A Great Day in Harlem” This documentary tells the story of photographer Art Kane’s 1958 iconic photograph of all of the great jazz musicians of the era.

Romeo and Juliet

Notorious — Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Alfred Hitchcock get around the restrictions on the length of a kiss by filming many small kisses

Carmen Jones

The Age of Innocence

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Pump Up the Volume

The Princess Bride

A Warm December

Spider-Man

Notting Hill

Carol

Lady and the Tramp

Avengers: Infinity War

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I love to recommend romantic movies for Valentine’s Day. This year, how about some movies starring real-life movie sweethearts?

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward made several films together, including “The Long, Hot Summer” and “Rachel Rachel” (he directed, she starred).

Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn met on “Woman of the Year” and you can see them fall in love on screen.

Their last movie together was “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.” This speech, filmed just before Tracy’s death, feels as though Tracy is speaking about his love for his co-star.

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall fell in love on the set of “To Have and Have Not.”

Director Taylor Hackford met his wife, Helen Mirren, when they made “White Nights” together.

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton had a passionate, tempestuous relationship, including two marriages and divorces, that was reflected in their films together.