Movie

Encanto

Name: Encanto
Released: 2021

2021 • Animation, Comedy, Family

Woke Score

out of 10

Plot

Encanto tells the tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, in a vibrant town, in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift from super strength to the power to heal-every child except one, Mirabel. But when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is in danger, Mirabel decides that she, the only ordinary Madrigal, might just be her exceptional family's last hope.

Overall Series Review

Encanto tells the story of an extended Colombian family whose central conflict is an internal one: the breakdown of family bonds and self-worth caused by the matriarch’s (Abuela Alma’s) trauma and her resulting rigid, works-based expectations for her 'gifted' descendants. The film centers on Mirabel, the only family member without a gift, who learns the truth about the emotional burdens carried by her sisters and uncle, saving the family by facilitating reconciliation. The narrative strongly champions forgiveness, mutual support, and healing intergenerational trauma, ultimately celebrating the extended family unit. The setting is explicitly Colombian, featuring a multi-racial cast appropriate for the culture without resorting to an intersectional power dynamic based on immutable characteristics. While female characters drive the core conflict and have the most development, male characters are largely supportive or relegated to side roles. The film's magical miracle is a secular construct, but the thematic resolution emphasizes truth, grace, and intrinsic worth over performance.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics2/10

The movie is set in a secluded, magical community in Colombia and features a racially diverse family. The core conflict is not a lecture on systemic oppression or white privilege; it is centered on individual worth versus the pressure of functional merit (having a magical 'gift') within the family structure. The casting reflects an authentic, multi-racial Colombian family, not a forced insertion of diversity, and the narrative's hero is judged by the content of her soul, aligning with Universal Meritocracy.

Oikophobia1/10

The central dramatic question is how to save the magical, ancestral home (Casita) and the community (Encanto) that was established by the heroic sacrifice of the patriarch. The narrative critiques the matriarch's rigid, fear-based control over the family’s traditions, but the resolution is the preservation and rebuilding of the home and community, not the deconstruction or demonization of the heritage itself. This demonstrates gratitude and respect for the ancestors' sacrifice.

Feminism5/10

The most complex and powerful figures are female: the heroine Mirabel, the matriarch Abuela Alma, the strong sister Luisa, and the 'perfect' sister Isabela. Abuela is a strong, authoritative leader of both the family and the community. Major character arcs focus on the female leads' struggle to be their authentic selves rather than living up to oppressive expectations. The men, such as Mirabel's father and uncle, are supportive but secondary, which contributes to an overall effect of male emasculation compared to the female dominance. The anti-natalism score is low because the setting is a multi-generational family and motherhood is a core institution, not framed as a 'prison.'

LGBTQ+1/10

The story adheres to a normative structure where sexuality is private and not a primary focus. There is no explicit presence of sexual ideology. The focus is exclusively on the extended, multi-generational nuclear family unit. Traditional male-female pairings are the assumed standard for courtship, although the heroine's sister rejects a pre-arranged marriage for personal freedom, not for an alternative sexual identity.

Anti-Theism3/10

While set in a Catholic-majority country, the source of power is a secular, magical 'miracle' candle, not explicit Christian faith, which places the movie in a spiritual vacuum. However, the themes of salvation, repentance, forgiveness, and finding intrinsic worth outside of 'works' or performance (the magical gifts) align strongly with transcendent moral principles and grace, rather than moral relativism or outright hostility toward faith. The film criticizes legalism and the abuse of power derived from the 'miracle,' not the concept of a higher moral law.