Encanto
Year: 2021
Rating: PG
Length: 102 minutes / 1.70 hours
As Disney hits all the cultural checkboxes across the globe, Encanto (2021) follows in the footsteps of Moana (2016) and Coco (2017) to expose audiences to the culture of Columbia. With catchy songs by Lin Manuel-Miranda, Encanto is full of fun and color in a way that doesn’t seem disrespectful to the culture it’s representing. And while I know little about Columbian culture, I know enough about Latin America to realize that the foundational lesson in Encanto is important for everyone, regardless of their culture of origin.
On its surface, Encanto is about a family with magic powers that live in a magic house. Everyone in the family except Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz). Normally, the story about Mirabel trying to figure out why she didn’t receive magic powers would be enough for this kind of movie. Encanto, however, digs deeper and addresses the significant pressure that can come from an individual’s family to live up to the family’s expectations. Other films are more overt with this lesson, but Encanto pairs it with magic to hide the deeper moral of the story: your family should not define who you are.
It’s easy to gloss over Bruno’s (John Leguizamo) exile from the family for his “unattractive” magical power or Luisa’s (Jessica Darrow) struggles with trying to “do it all” when there are catchy ear-worm songs playing over their very real plights. I know in a movie aimed at children, it’s difficult to be more direct with these harsher truths of human existence. If anything, this movie should help any Gifted Kid™ realize that they should pursue what makes them happy, and not what their parents or grandparents want them to pursue. Living vicariously through children and grandchildren does not set up future generations for success.
A deeper lesson hidden in bright colors and songs, I give Encanto 4.0 stars out of 5.
