Mark Reviews Movies: ENCANTO

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Review by Mark Dujsik | November 23, 2021

There's no villain in Encanto. There's neither a journey nor an adventure, and if there is a central conflict, it exists between the lines of this story and within the history, traditions, and bonds of a family. For a couple generations, they have lived together in a manor at the center of a remote town, somewhere in the mountains of Colombia. If this way of life is to continue for another generation and more, the family is going to have to adapt to change and learn to accept that not everyone in a family is going to fit the mold of expectations.

In other words, the story of this movie, written by director Jared Bush and Charise Castro Smith (credited as a co-director, apart from Bush and fellow director Byron Howard), is far more low-key than what our own expectations might be. This is, after all, the 60th official animated movie from Disney (The studio's logo announces that), which has survived and, during certain periods of its history, creatively thrived for almost a century now. Over that time, we have come to anticipate certain things from one of the studio's animated offerings—a formula that made even the concept of a Disney animated movie into a cultural institution.

Here, the filmmakers certainly give us some of that formula. It's a musical, featuring some imaginative numbers that could only be achieved through animation. The story is a fairy tale of sorts, even if it's not based on any specific source material, and that tale, cohered by a clever hook, mixes comedy and a sincere, clearly stated message.

Even so, there's a lot from that formula that's bypassed or ignored by the screenplay, because this is—quite simply and, in its best moments, quite affectionately—the story of the dynamic of a family. There's love here, but beneath that are also jealousy and pressure and judgment and an absence of trust.

Beyond the facts that they live in a magical house and that each member (save for one) has some kind of magical power, the Madrigals are completely and recognizably ordinary. As with any seemingly ordinary family, there's more than enough drama, tension, and conflict, and Bush and Castro Smith's awareness of this basic reality is admirable. That's why we don't need a villain, a journey, or an adventure here.

The desire to embrace what this movie does—by way of what it omits from the usual formula in order to focus on a more human story—is strong. The requirements of the formulaic elements the filmmakers do embrace, though, eventually overwhelm a bit too much of that story's heart.

The Madrigals, who escaped some unspecified turmoil about two generations ago, are the founders and de facto leaders of this isolated village, which is cut off from the rest of the world by way of the magic that gave the family their own powers. Mirabel (voice of Stephanie Beatriz) introduces us to the family's history, her relatives, and their magical abilities by way of an energetic song, written—like the rest of the soundtrack—by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Her older sister Luisa (voice of Jessica Darrow), for example, has super-strength, and her other sister Isabela (voice of Diane Guerrero) can make flowers bloom from anywhere and is "perfect."

Mirabel, though, wasn't granted a power. She has mostly come to accept that, but it's not easy to be the outlier among a family so obviously special. On the event of another family member being granted magic by a mystical candle, Mirabel has a vision of the house collapsing, and despite some rigid assurances from Abuela Alma (voice of María Cecilia Botero), the entire family starts to fear the magic might disappear.

The rest of the story is split between two narrative concerns. The first offers the semblance of a plot, in which Mirabel tries to determine if her vision is accurate and how to stop that doom if it is. That sends her looking for a prophecy made by her long-lost uncle, who could predict the future and became a local pariah because he was always correct, and, eventually, discovering Uncle Bruno (voice of John Leguizamo), living within the walls. His prophecy about the fate of the family's magic is unclear, but Mirabel wants to find a way to preserve it.

As for the other element, it's about the family—the strong but sometimes tenuous bonds between them, the high expectations that Alma has implicitly or directly set on the Madrigals, the consistent feeling among all of them that they have to but can't possibly live up to those expectations. Luisa confesses as much in the movie's most effective and affecting musical number, noting the constant "drip" and "tick" of pressure to be stronger than she actually feels. The same goes for Isabela, who feels obligated to marry a local man, and others, such as an aunt who can control the weather and has to force her emotions in check, lest the storm cloud above her head becomes an inconvenience to anyone.

There's a good amount to admire here, especially in addressing and portraying these moments of doubt and anxiety within and among the family members. Encanto, though, possesses its own conflicted narrative, as it attempts to contain this familial drama within a certain formula—and ends up restraining it a bit too much.

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