Encanto is an animated film from Disney and starring Stephanie Beatriz, John Leguizamo, Adassa, Malumo, Jessica Darrow, Diane Guerrero, Maria Cecelia Botero, and many others.
In Colombia, the Madrigal family is granted a "miracle" in the form of an ever-burning candle that creates a geographically isolated village and a magical, sentient house. When each born member of the family comes of age (looks like about five or six?) they get access to their own magical room in the house, along with a magical gift. The matriarch of the family, Alma (Botero) doesn't have a gift so much as she's just in charge, and folks who marry into the family don't get one, but Alma's kids all get one and their kids get one...until Mirabel (Beatriz), who, without explanation, goes right up to her magical door to watch it disintegrate into sand before her sad little eyes.
Fast forward a few years, and Mirabel is occasionally bummed that she doesn't have magic but she's happy to be part of the family and wants to make them proud. On the eve that her little cousin Antonio (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) gets his gift, Mirabel sees the house's walls and floors crack and the candle gutter, and she tries to warn everyone, only to get shut down and, if we're being honest, gaslighted a bit. She then goes on a quest to find out what the heck is going on that leads her through various members of her family and how they're not really as happy or as adjusted as they pretend, takes her into the depths of the casita to find her estranged uncle Bruno (Leguizamo), and ultimately leads to the house collapsing as Alma's expectations and repressed grief break everything.
I really enjoy this movie, partially because it's fun and colorful and lively, and mostly because it's an ensemble movie in a way that a lot of animated (especially Disney) movies don't try to be. Sure, Mirabel is our POV, but we learn enough about Luisa (Darrow), Isabela (Guerrero), Antonio, Bruno, and even Alma to become invested in and recognize their arcs. I also like that there's not really a villain in the movie. Inasmuch as there's an antagonist, it's Alma, kinda-sorta, but you can just as easily say that it's the collective trauma of Alma's past and the fear of losing home and family.
And then there's the music. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the songs for the movie, and every now and then there's a "yep, that's Lin-Manuel" moment, but that's fine, I love his work. The songs are catchy and often earworm-y, but I've seen the movie a few times now and they're also layered and lyrically interesting.
Anyway, there's a lot to like about this movie. I go round and round with myself as to whether the fact that we never really get an explanation for why it's Mirabel who doesn't get a gift bothers me or not. I think it doesn't, because I think the explanation is that the miracle isn't something granted by a higher power so much as magic that the family developed? Chose? Earned? And that would mean that Mirabel's exclusion would also follow from something in the family, which is fine, but the Antonio gets a gift, too. We could delve into the metaphysics here, but that's probably more analysis than we need.
My Grade: A
Rewatch Value: High
Next up: The Eternals
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