Joining the ranks of teenage angsty films is DreamWorks's computer-animated film, Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. With eye-popping visuals and a star-studded cast, this coming-of-age movie, directed by Kirk DeMicco, tells the familiar story of an adolescent who's ready to test the waters and chart her own course. Voiced by Lana Condor of To All the Boys I've Loved Before fame, Ruby Gillman seems to be just like any other fifteen-year-old girl who wishes she could go to prom with her crush. However, Ruby is anything but normal. She's a blue kraken tasked by her mother to keep their identity a secret, but she and her friends are growing tired of her mother's biggest rule: you must not go in the ocean. Calling attention to the insane prom-posals that have become standard in American high schools, Ruby's invitation goes all wrong, and her crush, Connor, voiced by Jaboukie Young-White, falls into the sea. In an effort to save him, Ruby's true identity is revealed. Only, she's not the vulnerable sea creature her mother has always painted her to be-she's capable of things beyond her wildest dreams. Ruby's family is voiced by veterans of the stage and screen with Toni Collette as her mother, Colman Domingo as her father, Sam Richardson as her Uncle Brill, and the incomparable Jane Fonda as her regal Grandmamah, Warrior Queen of the Seven Seas. Just when Ruby believes her life is over as she learns her true identity, a new girl, Chelsea, voiced by Schitt's Creek's Annie Murphy, arrives to help. Chelsea encourages Ruby to get back in the ocean as be her secret sea-bestie, as Chelsea is a mermaid. Ruby continues to defy her mother and learn her species' special skills from her Grandmamah. As with any family secret, there is always more to be uncovered. Ruby tries to understand why her mother kept the truth from her, which only continues to drive them apart. The film tries to deal with generational trauma and the danger of running from the past, but a lot of the narrative feels underdeveloped. Certainly, films like Disney's Turning Red tackle the same concepts in a much more sophisticated way. While Ruby Kraken doesn't break any boundaries or say anything particularly new about what it means to be a teenager or rebel against one's parents, it is underscored by female-driven angst anthems. All teens feel insecure and long for acceptance, whether they're blue with gills they hide under an itchy green turtleneck, or they're just super into math and wish asking their crush to prom with quadratic equations on a graphing calculator were cool. However, the movie does offer some serious girl power vibes for young kids, which is always welcome when it comes ashore.
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