FINDING DORY

Here's the short answer: take the family. Finding Dory is the rare sequel that earns its place next to a beloved original. It's whimsical, funny, and filled with the same optimistic spirit that made Finding Nemo a classic — and it adds new friends worth loving, including a grumpy, resourceful octopus named Hank.

What makes it more than just cute is its heart. This is a movie about a child searching for her parents, and about parents who never stopped thinking about their lost daughter. It quietly and firmly affirms that every child deserves a mommy and a daddy who love them — without ever feeling like a lecture.

Content-wise, there's almost nothing to flag: mild cartoon danger, one soft word, and that's it. If you loved Finding Nemo, bring the whole crew back to the theater for this one.

A year after the events of Finding Nemo, Dory is living happily on the reef with Marlin and Nemo. Then a memory surfaces: she has a mommy and a daddy somewhere, and one cryptic clue about where to find them. With Marlin and Nemo's help — and a sea turtle friend named Crush — Dory sets off across the ocean toward the Monterey Marine Life Institute. Once there, the friends are separated, and Dory finds an unlikely ally in Hank, a sly, seven-armed octopus. What happens next is the adventure — and we'll let you discover it.

Four stars means this one delivers, and the source material backs it up. Finding Dory is described as "delightful" and "unforgettable," a "whimsical, funny adventure filled with oceans of fun for the whole family." It doesn't quite reach the heights of Finding Nemo — few sequels do — but that's a high bar, and falling just short of it still leaves you with one of the more enjoyable, most positive animated films of recent years. The new characters land, the humor works, and the emotional payoff of a family reunited is earned rather than forced.

Finding Dory exalts exactly what a family movie should: parental love, perseverance, optimism, and the conviction that helping others is simply the right thing to do, no matter the cost. Dory's motto — "Keep on swimming!" — is a small but genuine picture of hope under pressure, and her parents' unwavering devotion to finding their lost daughter is a quiet, moving portrait of what love actually looks like when tested by years of separation.

The film is also notably direct about family structure: it affirms, more than once, that every child deserves both a mommy and a daddy. There is one brief, background moment at a marine zoo showing two women associated with a single baby carriage — subtle and quick — but it stands against the far stronger and more sustained message the film builds around Dory's own story: that a child's need for both parents is real and worth honoring.

Friendship gets its due as well. Dory's friends never abandon her, even when she can't remember them from one moment to the next — a picture of loyalty that costs something.

Underneath the ocean adventure is an old, familiar ache: a child searching for home and family. Scripture speaks straight into that longing: "For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in" (Psalm 27:10).

Finding Dory earns its place as a rare sequel worth loving on its own terms — funny, warm, and clear-eyed about what makes a family. Our answer is simple: worth the trip. Gather the whole family, and don't be surprised if you leave a little more grateful for your own.