Encanto

Years ago, Abuela Alma, the matriarch of the Family Madrigal, in the face of grief and sorrow, received an “encanto,” an enchantment or charm in the form of an eternal flame that blessed her descendants with fantastical, magical powers. Everyone that is except her granddaughter, Mirabel, and her son, Bruno. [But we don’t talk about Bruno. I’ve said all I should about him.] Years later, cracks are beginning to appear in the lustrous Madrigal family facade, and it’s up to the powerless Mirabel to resolve the crippling crisis. Set in a romanticized, hyperbolic, technicolor version of Colombia, Encanto employs the appealing songs of Lin-Manuel Miranda to demonstrate that all families crack, but with trust, strength, and grit they can be restored. Encanto is spirited and uplifting, borrowing from the literary tropes of the magical realists to become a vibrant, kid-friendly version of a Gabriel García Márquez novel.