Encanto (PG)
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Caution: spoilers.

This was released theatrically for one month on November 24, 2021, before being released on Disney+ on December 24. It was accompanied by the short film Far from the Tree. It's set in Colombia, but it's unclear exactly when it's set. Wikipedia mentions a plot point from the start of the film being inspired by the Thousand Days War, in 1899 to 1902. At one point a character alludes to television, including telenovelas, which at first I thought seemed anachronistic, but if the main part of the story is set at least 50 years after the flashback at the beginning, it would be a close call as to whether such things could have existed yet in the world of "Encanto". Though I suppose none of this really matters, I'm just curious about it.

It begins with Alma Madrigal telling her 5-year-old granddaughter, Mirabel, about the time many years ago when she and other people were forced by war to flee from their village, which was burned down. Alma had triplet babies with her: Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno. Her husband, Pedro, was killed by pursuing enemies, but then a miracle occurred, imbuing Alma's candle with magical power, that created a new town for them, surrounded by newly formed mountains that kept their enemies out. The place was called an "encanto". The candle also created a sentient house for Alma and her children to live in, called the Casita. And when her children turned five years old, they each got magical abilities from the candle. Since then, every member of the Madrigal family has also received their own special ability when they turned five, and now it was Mirabel's turn. However, for some reason she doesn't receive a gift.

The main story is set when Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) is 15, and doing her best to be helpful to the family despite not having any special abilities. (Of course the family includes other people without abilities, who had married into the family, including Mirabel's father. So she's not completely alone in this, even if she sometimes feels that way.) She has a 19-year-old sister named Luisa, who has super strength, and a 21-year-old sister named Isabela, who can make flowers bloom and is considered "perfect". (Mirabel seems to resent Isabela in particular.) The main story starts when her 5-year-old cousin, Antonio, is about to receive his own gift. This would be the first new gift since Mirabel failed to receive hers, so there's some nervousness about whether he'll get an ability or not. He does, though (he can now talk to animals), so everyone is relieved. Mirabel is happy for Antonio, but she still feels disappointed about not having a gift, herself. Then, she has a vision of the Casita being cracked and in danger of crumbling, but when she brings everyone to see what has happened, everything seems fine.

Now, I need to mention that ten years earlier, Bruno had had a prophetic vision which he didn't reveal to the family, but it was dire, and it caused him to leave home. Now, no one talks about Bruno. But Mirabel goes to his room to look for clues about what his vision might have been. And she does find a physical representation of the vision, which makes it appear that she herself is responsible for the Casita (and all of her family's magic) being in danger. Meanwhile, some of her relatives are also beginning to worry. (There are several Madrigals I haven't mentioned. It's a big family, and I couldn't keep track of how everyone was related to each other. There was a whole song about it, but it was too fast-paced for me to follow, either.) Later, it is expected that a man named Mariano Guzman will propose to Isabela. But there's a disturbance for which Mirabel is blamed, which ends up preventing the proposal, which Isabela resents, and upsets their abuela, Alma. The Casita actually does start to crack, and Luisa loses her strength. After that, Mirabel discovers that Bruno has secretly been living within the walls of the Casita all this time, and he reveals that his vision actually foretold that the fate of the family would be determined for good or bad by Mirabel, but he has no idea which way it's going to go.

Beyond that, I don't want to spoil any more plot developments. It's safe to assume the movie will have a happy ending, though exactly what that ending will look like is uncertain. (I mean, I had different ideas about what would happen, and I guess they were all partly right and partly wrong.) But I definitely liked how everything worked out. There were moments and themes in the film that I loved, but on the whole, I'd say I only very, very much liked the movie. I did enjoy the messages conveyed by the film, even if I felt that one of them was somewhat undercut by the way it ended. I might have liked it a bit more if it had ended a bit differently, or I might not. It was pretty great, either way. And either way, there were some great characters, great animation, great music, and a very good story steeped in magical realism and familial relations.