THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Whether you know it or not, family is an important part of one’s life and in 2021, no movie was better at reminding that than Encanto.
PLOT
The film takes place somewhere in Colombia and follows the Madrigal family. Long ago, the matriarch Alma was forced to flee her original village from armed conflict. The said situation took the life of her husband Pedro, but fleeing saved her triplet children: Bruno, Pepa and Julieta. The loss of Pedro and her heartbreak sparked a miracle, whereas a candle gained magical qualities by blasting away pursuers and creating a sentient house. She and her children would live in the ‘Casita’, along with a magical hidden town that is surrounded by tall mountains. As fifty years go by, the candle remains lit and each Madrigal child is granted a special ability that they would use to serve the villagers. Bruno had precognitions and never had children of his own. Pepa can control the weather and when she married her husband Félix (Mauro Castillo), their daughter Dolores got enhanced hearing and their oldest son Camilo gained the ability to shapeshift. Julieta can heal people with her cooking and when she married her husband Agustín (Wilmer Valderrama), they had three daughters: Isabela can make flowers bloom everywhere and Luisa has super strength, but the youngest Mirabel became the first in the family to not have a gift. When she was unable to her own power, Bruno had a vision with two different outcomes, implying that she may or not be involved with the destruction of the family home. Since his prior prophecies were mostly negative, he chose to go into hiding to protect her from the truth. Ten years go by and Casa Madrigal is still in good condition, for now. When Pepa’s youngest son Antonio (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) gets his gift of speaking to animals, Mirabel notices cracks in the house and has a vision of the candle’s flame going out. When she tries to warn her Abuela Alma, it all looks undamaged. When Mirabel later overhears her fear of the magic being lost, she starts her own investigation to save it. She first goes to Dolores to see if she knows something. Her cousin points her to Luisa, since she overheard her eye twitching. She does go to her and her sister opens up to feeling a lot of pressure as the strongest in the family, especially now since her powers started fading when Antonio got his. She also suggests to visit Bruno’s abandoned room as there could be clues to what’s going on. Mirabel does find her uncle’s vision displayed in broken shards of green glass and sees the outcome that the house’s downfall could be her fault. At first she tells Agustin and the two agree to keep it secret, but Dolores overhears this and makes the mistake to telling the family at dinner, which ruins Isabel’a arranged engagement with Mariano Guzman (Maluma). After this fallout, she follows a group of rats within the walls of the house, finding her Tio Bruno whose been there this whole time. He explains that he did what he did to protect her after seeing the future almost uncertain. She then urges him to have another vision in hopes to figure out how to prevent downfall. He does so and sees that it could be prevented if her niece has an embrace with someone in the family. In the vision, it appears to be Isabela. Despite being difficult to embrace, Isabela confesses of her own pressure of appearing perfect, wanting to embrace imperfection by growing things other than flowers and not wanting to marry Mariano. This does appear to strengthen the house, but Alma starts blaming Mirabel for causing trouble out of spite of not having a gift. Mirabel then defends herself by calling out her grandmother that it’s really her fault due to the pressure she imposed on the whole family. This argument destroys the house and puts out the magical candle causing everyone to lose their powers. Mirabel the runs away out of shame of what happened, but Alma finds her at the River where Pedro died. It is where she apologizes for her behavior, forgetting that having a family is truly what makes someone special. Once both women reconcile, Bruno appears to defend Mirabel, but his mother quickly reconciles with him as well, happy to see him again. When he returns home with them, they and the rest of the family rebuild the Casita together, with help from the village. When Mirabel places a doorknob on the front door, the magic returns for the house and everyone who lost their gifts, who now plan to use them however they want. Mirabel then sets up Dolores with Mariano, since she always had a crush on him. The film ends with the entire Madrigal family posing for a new family picture.
THOUGHTS
I did consider checking this out in theaters, but I chose to not rush myself. A month after its theatric release, I was as lucky as anyone else getting the opportunity to see it on Disney+ and boy did I love this film. Directors Jared Bush, Byron Howard & Charise Castro Smith were able to make a beautiful animated film that is exciting to see from beginning to end. The second you hear ‘The Family Madrigal’ in the opening, you couldn’t be anymore hyped of what is to come. Like any film from Walt Disney, we get more heartwarming lessons that stand the test of time. The first of which, which I find most important, is that you don’t need a gift to show your worth and be your own person, rather than waste time comparing yourself to others. This wouldn’t be so clear without the most diverse ensemble we’ve seen from Disney yet. Stephanie Beatriz makes Mirabel a memorable character because she is in that period of realization where she accepts who she is, but aspires to be noticed. When she sings ‘Waiting on a Miracle’, you feel her desperation to fit in. If not for her optimism, she would’ve not saved her home and made her family stronger than ever. It was wise of her to not get a power at the end, because that would be overdoing the happy ending. If you really want an answer of what gift she has, it’s her love for her family. Speaking of strong, Jessica Darrow brings a whole set of being relatable when playing the tireless Luisa. Her song ‘Surface Pressure’ comes off catchy, but it becomes more meaningful when you realize it translates the stress she feels being there for everyone all at once. However, getting that off her chest with Mirabel gave her the epiphany that she can’t shoulder everything on her own. Diane Guerrero even makes Isabela relatable as well for showing that despite being full of grace, it is not easy to thrive for perfection. Her song ‘What Else Can I Do’ is enjoyable to listen to because it calls out that being a perfect person doesn’t exist and that is okay. I also enjoyed Adassa as Dolores because her power showed that you just gotta be cautious with what you say, because you don’t know how it’ll affect others around you. I don’t know about five kids, but I’m sure she’ll have a fine family with Mariano. I even enjoyed Rhenzy Felix as Camilo because aside from Antonio, he clearly showed to enjoy his powers and not treat it like a burden, which makes him more easygoing than the rest of his cousins. Bruno first comes off depicted as the black sheep, as dissed by the family in ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’, but John Leguizamo makes him more than that. He is someone who made a sacrifice to protect his family. He had the biggest burden and was ridiculed for it non stop, making him all the more of a tragic figure because he is just doing what he knows. This situation he was in reminds me that despite cautious of what to say, the truth has to come out eventually, no matter how hurtful it could be. I was in relief that he reunited with his family because he deserved to be as equal as everyone else. I just love Carolina Gaitan as Pepa because I relate to the scenario of taking things literally and struggling to remain calm. Thankfully, she has a loving husband like Felix at her side to remind her to have a good time. I also enjoyed the presence of Angie Capeda’s Julieta for literally being the nurturing parent of the film. Even though she didn’t believe Mirabel yet, she was willing to hear her out because she knew she just wanted someone to listen at the moment. I even praise her for trying to stand up to Alma, a similar scene I wish had happened between Jaime and Abuelita in Coco. Last but not least, Maria Cecilia Botero makes Alma the most debatable character of the whole film. Her firmness as the matriarch comes from the right place as she doesn’t want to lose her family like she lost Pedro. The decisions she chose to make point out that sometimes, family does not know what’s best for you. When you listen to ‘Dos Oruguitas’ and see her lose her husband, you understand the pain she is going through. That moment of reminiscence helped her realize she forgot the importance of family. The said song by Sebastián Yatra is generally beautiful to listen to because it represents that when you lose someone you love, you have to be able to move on or you’ll move apart. Hearing it sung beautifully in Spanish only made it better. Despite naturally enjoying this film for what it’s sharing, I can’t help but admit there’s a few issues I noticed. First off, it is cool when the stairs turn to slides, how does it know when someone like Mirabel wants that to happen? Does it read her head or did she always request since childhood? If only this was clear, then I wouldn't twist my brain. I do enjoy listening to 'The Family Madrigal' but how do the three kids in the opening not know who the Madrigals are? They're the only ones in the town with powers, they're technically famous off of that. And why would the vendor give Mirabel a ‘Not Special Special’? That’s just a cruel joke, asking to get his ass whooped. Mirabel would tell Luisa and he would fly away from a flick of her finger. Speaking of Luisa, why would she drop the barrels for the sake of the piano? They could've broke and she would've wasted good food/drinks. And why the hell is the nursery the only available room for Mirabel? She doesn't need to share a room with anyone, but the house could've given her a better room than the nursery. If she really needs a gift for that request, then that is so wrong. I then wonder if Agustin gets his bee stings on purpose because he brushes it off so quickly due to his wife always healing him. If he’s getting himself stung just to be fed, then that’s just weird. And why the hell was Mirabel not in the picture when Antonio got his gift? It’s not like she didn’t want to be in it, so I’m thrown off of how no one reminded her to join the shot. And why didn't she tell Abuela about the cut on her hand? She may be a bit uptight, but I'm sure she'd be concerned for her safety if she saw that and would've acknowledged something is up. I then wonder why exactly does she sneak out of her room at night? I understand we need her to figure out the mystery, but it felt so confusing for her to check on the candle when she had no proof until overhearing Alma’s concern. Dolores' power is unique to hear an eye twitch from Luisa, but how did she not hear Abuela's confession at night? She hears everything, so it would be more interesting if she was more helpful about this. Not hearing Abuela is just as wild as her keeping secret of where Bruno was. Speaking of which, am I the only one wondering why does the family considering talking about Bruno when they’re not supposed to. ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ is catchy, but they really didn’t have to talk about him if they were so worried. I was even pretty irritated of Dolores spilling the beans during dinner with Mariano. I know this unexpectedly benefits her, but she really could’ve waited until after dinner to share what she heard. The only thing I gotta question about Bruno is why doesn’t he hide in his room if no one is gonna bother going in. And after that, I have a hard time wrapping my head about how come the magic of the house doesn’t work within the walls. It’s not outdoors so it should work. The last thing that comes to mind was how weird it was to not see Bruno escape the house when it got destroyed. I literally thought he died, so I thought it was messed up making me consider that to happen. Ignore these flaws and you’ll still enjoy yourself. In short, Encanto is another Disney hit for being able to bring families together in this trying time, earning the Best Animated Feature Oscar in the process. If you love family like any sane person, watch this movie as soon as possible.
Comments