I was super excited when I heard a new Disney movie was coming out- Encanto. I know that Coco was a hit so I felt like this one would be too. Cultural movies like these are a good addition of spice and color in our life. I think that a lot of people do not know the cultural norms associated with Columbia and I am here for it. The clothing, community, sense of family, and overall difference from our culture is refreshing.
I feel like Mirabel is so relatable as the family outcast since she is the only one without a “gift”. We all feel like an outcast at times, some more than others. The thing that I relate to her with is that she is overlooked and that nobody takes her feelings into consideration a lot. Sometimes I feel like I am the most irrelevant person to everyone in my life. Mirabel is constantly scolded by her Abuela (grandmother), being told to “step aside” when they feel like she is in the way. This breaks my heart because sometimes you can’t help but be the bearer of bad news or the annoying one to others. I think that Mirabel played this part so well and expressed these emotions to a T.
I love the storyline and the characters a lot in this movie as well. Bruno is such a good character even though he isn’t there that much. He is such a weirdo but also super funny and caring. I love how he left to protect Mirabel after seeing the vision of her. In the end, when he stands up to Abuela to help Mirabel it showed how big his heart is. A conflict derived from jealousy and constant mistakes that Mirabel unintentionally caused entails her and Isabella having a conflict that Bruno claims will save their house once they work it out. Mirabel ends up bringing the best out of her family members as we saw with Luisa and Isabella very clearly in the two scenes with their own songs.
I can’t even describe how good the soundtrack is too. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is one of my favorites as it shows how he can help Mirabel save the house. Also “Surface Pressure” is such a relatable song. Mirabel’s sister Luisa has the gift of strength. Luisa feels like she is carrying too much of the weight so to speak as she is at her breaking point. They keep piling her with tasks and she feels so stressed. I think that being overwhelmed is something we all feel a lot, and this is just such a powering and vulnerable moment in the movie.
Bruno says, “my gift wasn’t helping the family, but I love my family”. They show us a cut-out in the wall overlooking the dining room and his placemat he made himself so that he can eat with them next to it. This absolutely broke my heart because he cares so much about them, but he was such an outcast that he felt unwanted. I feel unwanted a lot and to see him so lonely, is just really relatable. I think it is important to notice too that Mirabel relates to Bruno a lot and it shows that you are not alone. There are some really powerful messages in this movie that I think is so meaningful and relatable.
If you haven’t seen it and read all of these spoilers, now you know what to watch out for. It is truly a really good Disney movie and I hope you enjoy it too. If you have seen it, I hope you got the same storyline that I got from it. There are so many different things that I missed the first time watching and after the third time watching, I just absolutely love it.