Leaving a pet home alone, you do wonder what they get up to when no-one’s looking. Do they really long for our return? Or are we interrupting their wild block parties with other furry comrades?

Following on from 2010’s release, The Secret Life of Pets 2 takes us behind the curtain once more into the curious ‘underworld’ of our four-legged friends.

Wracked with anxiety about their role in the home, where their favourite ball is, and how to keep track of us when we leave, it seems our pets may be just like us.

Snowball saved the day, let’s be clear” Kevin Hart & Tiffany Haddish Stoush in “Pets 2” Interview

Now, the once-spoilt terrier Max (Patton Oswalt) is dealing with some major life changes. His owner has gotten married and had a baby, and the responsibility of protecting a child from the city’s many dangers has Max on edge. On a family trip to the countryside, Max has to face his fear of the unknown, and decide what kind of pet he’s going to be.

Meanwhile, Chloe (Lake Bell) and Snowball (Kevin Hart), are introduced to Daisy (Tiffany Haddish), an endearing Shih Tzu who needs ‘Captain Snowball’ to help save a circus tiger in distress. The menacing Russian circus leader isn’t so keen on that idea though, hunting Daisy and Snowball down.

Between all the subplots, The Secret Life of Pets 2 is high-energy family fun. There’s a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, and pearls of wisdom to ponder as Max confronts the dangerous realities of life.

Joking about whose character saves the day, stars Tiffany Haddish (Daisy) and Kevin Hart (Snowball) told Hope 103.2 there’s a lot of heart to the movie that they think families will love.

“What I love most about Daisy,” said Tiffany, “is that she cares about others and she’s not afraid to ask for help to get something done that’s going to help someone else… I think we all should do [that] more often; if we see someone struggling and we’re not sure how to solve [their] problem, ask someone else to help you because you’ll get it done.

“And she saves everything. She actually saves the day.”

“First I think Snowball saved the day,” Kevin said. “Let’s just be clear on that… but families are going to be able to walk away with an amazing message. [One is that] it’s not good to be a fly on the wall and observe, and watch people go through things without trying to be there for them in their time of need. [Max’s story also shows us] as you grow you have to experience things and get comfortable with life.”

The Secret Life of Pets 2 is in cinemas June 20.

This article was originally published on Hope 103.2.