Disney+ Review - Encanto (2021)

Encanto is a beautiful Disney production with music by Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton”, “Moana”) of a village set hidden away in the mountains of Colombia that takes us on a truly enchanted journey.

In true fairy-tale style, the story begins in trauma, with Grandma Alma fleeing from her village with her husband and triplet babies. Unfortunately, her husband Pedro, dies and Alma, fearing for the safety of her babies, falls to her knees and prays for help.

The scene is far more dramatic than I have just made it, and has you gripped from the start, holding your breath for the safety of the families.

Alma’s prayers are answered and an Encanto home is born with the most beautiful house for Alma and her children to live in and an enchanted, colourful village to grow up in.

This is the background information needed to understand why Grandma Alma is the way she is in life, to understand what she has lost and what she has gained, but I feel (and I think the film is designed this way), Grandma Alma has maybe lost what is truly important by the time her grandchildren have come along.

The story follows the humble and kind Mirabel, who unlike the rest of the family, was not granted a gift from the house when she turned 5. Instead of becoming bitter about her sisters and cousins receiving gifts, she goes out of her way to be loving and kind and helping the home and family live their best lives.

I have to admit, she takes this very well and is still a humble person. It’s a shame it takes the entire film and destruction of the house for her grandmother to see what we can all see within the first 20 minutes of the film.

With their gifts of super strength, talking to the animals and the power to heal, it turns out the family members are still not happy and even struggle with their gifts and the house can feel this, and soon begins to crumble and break. It is left up to Mirabel to save the family as well as their home.