Or meant to accept a quick apology as a way to sweep it all under the rug.
This is typical gas lighting 101

Listen, i get it. some of you love the movie. But some of us expect more from Disney and LMM at this point. I think it had promise and could have been a pretty good film but it spent way too long showing how all of these family members are special compared to the 'others' who don't have the special gifts. When you spend a good 15 minutes on a guy living in the walls but not one family member coaxed him out, showed care/love/sympathy, just "we don't talk about him' and only a few minutes with the matriarch who started this entire abusive circle saying "oopsies, sorry'. Yeah. That is not an ok way to resolve what is now decades of abuse.
Each person thought they used their gifts for good but really they were just selfish and liked the attention. Instead of building a room for Maribel, who i guess could only get a bedroom if she was special enough and the house deemed it so, they kept her in a nursery.
And yes, that little kid was scared to not get a gift because he saw his 20 year old aunt living in a baby room and his uncle was basically ostracized from teh family all related to this 'gift' business.
The film could have held promise had they come to the realization they all sucked at around the mid point and spent the rest of hte movie showing how every person in that town was great. NOT just this family. If someone, anyone other than Maribel had shown an ounce of humainty to Bruno, I don't know, if we found out they were secretly feeding him, communicating with him, begging him to return. Nope. Instead we get a 5 minute song saying they don't talk about him. That is not a way to handle any situation and can be a really unhealthy message for any person or child feeling alone and not like everyone else.
And for those defending this movie and NOT showing abuse, i do feel for you because you may have been in abusive relationships and were gaslighted to think they weren't.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I totally didn't understand the movie and neither did my kids. Why was Bruno banished to the walls?? What did his vision mean other than the magic may come to an end one day? I guess I just don't understand. And I do agree that the main character looked like either baby from dirty dancing or Andrea from 90210. So much so it was a bit distracting. And she still lives in the nursery?!?! The entire movie was weird and none of the characters were memorable and the grandma and the entire family seemed overly mean and abusive.

It wasn’t difficult to understand so if I were you, I’d be a bit concerned about your lack of comprehension.

Ok. On that. 🤪
The movie was quite weak, characters were shallow and unlikable and the message was cloudy and abusive.

It wasn’t cloudy at all, though. It only eluded you, this simple Children’s movie. So again, perhaps you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed.

NP. I agree with the PP. Granted, I fell asleep a bit in the middle, but I just wasn’t following much when I was awake. Generational trauma as the main theme for a children’s movie? Ok.

Anonymous wrote:If you're going to rely on this songs to brush away years of emotional abuse, at least to make it so people can understand the lyrics. I couldn't understand a thing they were saying and neither could my kids

LMM’s lyrics are very dense! I always turn on subtitles for his stuff.

I thought they were straightforward about the abuse and repentance and did not brush it away. Abuela says in dialogue, not a song, “I am so sorry. You never hurt our family, Mirabel. We are broken… because of me.” It’s not often in a movie that the “villain” clearly acknowledges and takes responsibility for the hurt they’ve caused. Usually the villain ends up in jail or being pushed off a cliff or something. This is such a different kind of movie, i’m not surprised that some people find it unsatisfying and some (like me) find it infinitely more satisfying.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was rescued from watching this movie by this whole thread, and by this OP in another thread that is now locked

I love most Pixar and Disney movies but this was a big miss for me. Worse than Luca.
The story was not engaging and the verbal abuse was never addressed. A guy lived in the walls because this family and grandma were so bad. What was the point of this horrid film? Be like everyone else or get ostracized?

I was really, really looking forward to going for this movie, but this is the EXACT kind of bs that I am not interested in.

yes, definitely make your entertainment choices by following *checks notes* how a DCUM rando describes it.

I can tell you that PP‘s opinion makes it sound like they either didn’t see or didn’t actually understand the movie. It’s about generational trauma and healing, not abuse. But why not go out and read an actual review?

...that is an actual review.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have many thoughts. I totally get representation and diversity. And the movie was great for that. I also love Lin Manuel Miranda and think some of the songs are really, really good.

But after watching it I just thought the story was little weak and thin. Bruno lives in the walls for YEARS? What about the sister with the bionic hearing, she doesn't know he's there? Why was his vision about her? Why DOESN'T she have a power, or a room? Just from a story perspective a little weak.

She does hear him. She sings about it in We Don’t Talk About Bruno. She doesn’t tell people he’s there because they don’t walk about it .

Yeah, I thought that made it even worse. She knows her uncle is going crazy living inside the walls of he houses because grandma drove him away but doesn’t think to tell her mother, who is probably desperately worried about her missing triplet, or go find him to maybe share some kind words with him? That’s next level family dysfunction.

I had to watch it a few times to pick up on it, but I think the answer is Dolores just likes to cause trouble while seeming totally innocent. She outed Mirabel for not having a gift, she blabbed about the prophecy at dinner, and if you watch closely when she tells Isabella that the hot guy wants 5 babies, she gives a small smirk when she sees Isabella's reaction. She didn't blab about Bruno because it caused more trouble to just spread rumors about him and watch everyone freak out with the whole "we don't talk about Bruno" thing. Plus she may have found it funny to hear him go crazy in the walls.

Which makes this whole family absolutely horrible.

+100

If you're going to rely on this songs to brush away years of emotional abuse, at least to make it so people can understand the lyrics. I couldn't understand a thing they were saying and neither could my kids

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I totally didn't understand the movie and neither did my kids. Why was Bruno banished to the walls?? What did his vision mean other than the magic may come to an end one day? I guess I just don't understand. And I do agree that the main character looked like either baby from dirty dancing or Andrea from 90210. So much so it was a bit distracting. And she still lives in the nursery?!?! The entire movie was weird and none of the characters were memorable and the grandma and the entire family seemed overly mean and abusive.

It wasn’t difficult to understand so if I were you, I’d be a bit concerned about your lack of comprehension.

Ok. On that. 🤪
The movie was quite weak, characters were shallow and unlikable and the message was cloudy and abusive.

It wasn’t cloudy at all, though. It only eluded you, this simple Children’s movie. So again, perhaps you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed.

It’s one of those films I only need to see once. I don’t see myself watching this a lot. Other than the visuals, nothing really appealed to me. Grandma was emotionally abusive and that went on for too long. The forgiveness was too quickly given. Lin-Miranda’s songs were too fast to even follow the lyrics.

Bruno really gives a new meaning to “driving someone up the wall” …. His fate is very reminiscent of the more cruel old school fables - before they were “Disney-fied” - they all included starving kids and gruesome destinies. It grates on our sensitivities but it still works well for many in other parts of the world where suffering is an every day occurrence.
It’s odd for what we have come to expect for a Disney movie but it’s valuable in my view.

Anonymous wrote:It's a Disney movie. It's at a level that kids get. Kids see the family members trying too hard, trying to be perfect and getting it wrong, and at the end seeing that perfection is not required and that you can come back home. They are loved anyway. It reassures kids.

Bruno went into the walls to protect Mirabel. He was not banished. He banished himself. Antonio was scared because of what happened with Mirabel, he knew it was possible to not receive a gift. He was scared because it wasn't a given. I don't think he was afraid of being rejected for not having a gift. Mirabel was not rejected for not having a gift. The house did not appear to have other bedrooms. The others got bedrooms when they got their gifts.

My question after so many viewings is why does Mirabel wear glasses? No healing for that? I didn't see anyone with glasses other than her. People lined up for her mom's healing, broken arms, allergic reactions, cuts, and she wears glasses?

I wondered about that. Then I decided that it was because wearing glasses isn’t a defect, it’s just a difference. Another way in which Mirabel is not like the others.

I was glad to have my kid see a heroine in glasses, anyway!

It's a Disney movie. It's at a level that kids get. Kids see the family members trying too hard, trying to be perfect and getting it wrong, and at the end seeing that perfection is not required and that you can come back home. They are loved anyway. It reassures kids.

Bruno went into the walls to protect Mirabel. He was not banished. He banished himself. Antonio was scared because of what happened with Mirabel, he knew it was possible to not receive a gift. He was scared because it wasn't a given. I don't think he was afraid of being rejected for not having a gift. Mirabel was not rejected for not having a gift. The house did not appear to have other bedrooms. The others got bedrooms when they got their gifts.

My question after so many viewings is why does Mirabel wear glasses? No healing for that? I didn't see anyone with glasses other than her. People lined up for her mom's healing, broken arms, allergic reactions, cuts, and she wears glasses?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have many thoughts. I totally get representation and diversity. And the movie was great for that. I also love Lin Manuel Miranda and think some of the songs are really, really good.

But after watching it I just thought the story was little weak and thin. Bruno lives in the walls for YEARS? What about the sister with the bionic hearing, she doesn't know he's there? Why was his vision about her? Why DOESN'T she have a power, or a room? Just from a story perspective a little weak.

She does hear him. She sings about it in We Don’t Talk About Bruno. She doesn’t tell people he’s there because they don’t walk about it .

Yeah, I thought that made it even worse. She knows her uncle is going crazy living inside the walls of he houses because grandma drove him away but doesn’t think to tell her mother, who is probably desperately worried about her missing triplet, or go find him to maybe share some kind words with him? That’s next level family dysfunction.

I had to watch it a few times to pick up on it, but I think the answer is Dolores just likes to cause trouble while seeming totally innocent. She outed Mirabel for not having a gift, she blabbed about the prophecy at dinner, and if you watch closely when she tells Isabella that the hot guy wants 5 babies, she gives a small smirk when she sees Isabella's reaction. She didn't blab about Bruno because it caused more trouble to just spread rumors about him and watch everyone freak out with the whole "we don't talk about Bruno" thing. Plus she may have found it funny to hear him go crazy in the walls.

Nobody told that Bruno was there. Mirabel found out and kept it to herself. Antonio knew and kept it to himself. They really didn't talk about Bruno.

At the table, she shares the guy's wishes, but before that in the song, we see that she is the one that likes that guy. He is betrothed to another. I don't think she is a troublemaker. She just shares what she hears, except Bruno, because everyone has the message not to speak about him. They knew she was going to tell as soon as they knew she knew. Her gift can be a burden. I bet she hears some juicy stuff that she has to keep to herself. Mirabel should have had a talk and song with her.

My son loves this movie. I have seen it too many times to count at this point.

Totally unfair that Dolores gets the worst gift, the worst name, and then didn't even have a chance to sing about it!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 12 year old ordered this movie last night, and this morning, took me by the hand and asked me to sit down with him to watch it. He hash't done that kind of thing in years. Halfway through, he lay down with his head in my lap to watch the rest.

I had never even heard about this movie. However adults perceive it, if my son's reaction is any evidence, this movie really resonates with kids.

I did think the music was terrific! I wondered "was Lin Manuel Miranda involved with this" when I heard one of the ballads interspersed with some rapping.

The story and message were also great. The best Disney I've seen in many many years.

😂🤣🤣

What’s funny? I think PP’s story is sweet and jibes with my own experience. I watched with two 12 year old boys who were also struck by it. Afterwards I kind of jokingly quipped ”Well, that was a heartwarming Disney movie about generational trauma.” One of the boys looked at me and just said very seriously “No, it was about family.”

A lot of it is quite deceptively dark, but kids have a much greater appetite for darkness than any of us give credit for.

Oh, sorry, I thought it was a troll? Mimicking the moms who are passionately defending Encanto?

The fact that a kid was hiding under a bed for fear of being ostracized by his grandma if he can't open a door and be special.... Yeah I would say is pretty abusive.

An apology song doesn't make up or almost having your child starve to death in the walls of your home and your granddaughter being banished to a nursery even though she's 20. I mean, I'm glad that Grandma realized how f***** up that was in the end, but I don't think a song is really going to help overcome that trauma.