Animated films about characters with feelings appear to be in vogue, with films such as Inside Out, Soul and Turning Red. They also have one more thing in common, being all produced by Pixar.

Keen to re-draw a page out of their book is DreamWorks Animation, with their tale of a young teen going through a change.

Attending Oceanside High is Ruby Gillman (Lana Condor), who is your average teenager, who just so happens to be blue. And a Kraken.

She was keen to be going to her prom, by way of a protest but secretly just wanting to have fun, but she has been flat out refused by her mom Agatha (Toni Collette). The reason is because the prom is taking place on a boat, and the number one rule is to never go in the sea. And although technically a boat is on the sea, it’s just too big of a risk.

But there’s a quiet streak of rebellion in the teenager, egged on by her pals who are all going, and she decides to take the plunge, as it were, and ask a boy she likes to be her date.

But that proposal doesn’t quite go to plan, resulting in Ruby being in the number one place she really shouldn’t be- the sea. It certainly does affect her, but not in the ways her mom kept telling her, in what is truly a transformative experience. But with the prom coming up, the timing couldn’t have been worse, as Ruby now finds herself embroiled in a beef that’s being waging beneath the waves for years.

So if it isn’t blatantly apparent to you, this film uses a teenager becoming a kraken as a metaphor for a young person's transition into adulthood. And there’s nothing wrong with that, as it’s been done before as in An American Werewolf in London, Teen Wolf and Carrie. The thing is, it’s a little heavy handed, a little too obvious, with no room whatsoever for subtlety. Even the soundtrack is an overbearing anthem to female empowerment, with a number of grating pop songs that lack any individual personality, and fell as if they’re simply there for the sake of it.

That said, the vocal talent is solid, especially from young Condor who delivers a sparkling personality.

And the animation is undeniably colourful and creative, with only the underwater scenes themselves being a tad underwhelming, lacking any sense of real motion.

There’s no denying this film’s good intentions, and perhaps it hits the mark as far as a younger audience are concerned, although they probably deserve more credit that that as they’re more sophisticated and knowing more than any other generation.

So not quite the kraken good time hoped for then, which means that for us Carrie still wears the prom crown for being the best film to illustrate the changes a young woman has to go through. Just don’t show it to your kids though, it’s a tough enough time as it is without adding any extra trauma.