!SPOILER WARNING
THE VIEWING GUIDE
A deep dive into the must-see moments from the month’s big release
Encanto
AS ANYONE WHO’S seen Encanto — the canonical 60th film from Walt Disney Animation Studios — will tell you, there’s plenty to discuss in the Colombia-set family fantasy. And we’re not just talking about Bruno. Empire sits down with directors Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Charise Castro Smith to uncover the superpowered secrets of the magical Madrigal family.
LIGHT
In true Disney style, Encanto begins with a fairytale prologue — Abuela Alma (María Cecilia Botero) telling young Mirabel about the ‘miracle’ that has blessed generations of Madrigals. It packs in plenty: Alma losing her partner to Colombia’s historic political violence, the magic birthed from that loss, the creation of a living house sheltered from danger, and the powers bestowed to her descendants. It all springs from Colombia’s literary tradition of magical realism. “This tradition is magic grounded in really difficult circumstances — magic borne of emotion, out of characters, out of relationships,” says Smith. “When we decided to ground this family’s magic out of this difficult moment, the movie came alive.”