Encanto

(PG) ★★★★★

Director: Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Charise Castro Smith

Cast: (voices of) Stephanie Beatriz, María Cecilia Botero, John Leguizamo, Mauro Castillo, Jessica Darrow, Angie Cepeda, Carolina Gaitán, Diane Guerrero, Wilmer Valderrama, Rhenzy Feliz, Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Adassa, Maluma.

Little did she know the killer donkeys were right behind her.

Disney's willingness in recent years to expand the horizons of the typical Disney film is commendable. It's generated some intriguing films with compelling ideas. From 2010's Tangled through to the Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph films, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Moana and last year's Raya & The Last Dragon, Disney's gone to fascinating places and shown us new types of princesses, heroes and anthropomorphic animals.

Amid the pro-active princesses and buddy comedies, one fascinating new trend has been the ability for Disney (and Pixar for that matter) to make the occasional movie without a nominal villain. Frozen doesn't pit its heroines against Big Bad Evil Guys/Gals, but rather against each other, the world at large and their own inner worlds (also check out Pixar's Inside Out for the greatest example of this). To a lesser extent, Moana and Raya & The Last Dragon do this too, with the BBEG being a world in decline. The likes of Scar, Shere Khan, and the various evil stepmothers of the past are nowhere in sight.  

Encanto is another magnificent version of this new (for Disney) type of storytelling. It enhances the drama, downplays the action, and finds a beautifully rich world full of compelling characters, culture and self-discovery.

Set in a magical Colombian enclave shut off from the outside world (an encanto), it centres on the Madrigal family. Each member has incredible superpowers except for 15-year-old Mirabel (Beatriz), who is convinced that the family's perfect existence is on the edge of disaster. 

Encanto bursts with energy and life - it's in its songs, its characters, and its production design. It's Colombian setting infuses every element, making for a rich lived-in world that's engaging, exciting and fascinating. Mirabel's journey of self-discovery rarely take her outside her own home, but that's cool because even the house is overflowing with personality, culture and magic.

Amid a cast of incredible characters, Mirabel is a marvel. She's determined yet nervous, strident yet confused, and strong yet powerless. Her journey of self-discovery is delivered beautifully and poignantly, and her relationships with the rest of her family, particularly her grandmother, are rich and propel the story forward in wonderful ways. 

There is so much to love about Encanto, although for such a fresh story it feels weirdly predictable in some ways. While it manages to subvert expectations on the whole, it still feels kinda obvious in places. Still, the way it gets where its going always feels honest, real and captivating, and there are enough little surprises to keep you guessing.

It's also great fun. The bouncing and colourful songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda are joyous but also keep the story moving, there is humour everywhere amid the heavy themes of self-discovery, family and expectation, and there are enough action beats to keep the pace up.

Encanto is bound to be remembered as The Colombian One, but that shorthand will fail to fully capture the richness of storytelling and absolute joy and heart inside this tale. Come for the culture and songs, but stay for everything else.

REWIND REVIEW: Booksmart (2019)

This is a version of a review airing on ABC Radio across regional Victoria on February 3, 2022.

(MA15+) ★★★★

Director: Olivia Wilde.

Cast: Beanie Feldstein, Kaitlyn Dever, Billie Lourd, Diana Silvers, Skyler Gisondo, Jessica Williams, Lisa Kudrow, Will Forte, Jason Sudeikis, Molly Gordon, Noah Galvin, Austin Crute, Victoria Ruesga, Eduardo Franco, Nico Hiraga, Mason Gooding, Mike O'Brien.

The pole repair crew were on the scene.

Remember that classic school-set movie about subverting expectations and stereotypes, discovering your true identity, and realising no one knows who they really are in high school?

Am I talking about The Breakfast Club or Booksmart? The answer is both.

They're great timeless themes, which is why The Breakfast Club has endured, and Booksmart will too. Olivia Wilde's feature film debut has been likened to Superbad, but the truth is Booksmart is so much deeper, richer and bolder. It's also funny as fuck, boasts a cracking soundtrack, and stars a note-perfect cast.

Molly (Feldstein) and Amy (Dever) are two high-achieving, straight-laced high school bookworms who discover on the day before graduation that the kids they perceived to be slackers, wasters, and losers have also managed to get grades good enough to get them into America's top colleges - except they did it while enjoying themselves.

With one night of high school left, Molly and Amy set out to make up for lost time, by enjoying themselves like they've never done before. 

The setting is perfect for self-discovery and some classic coming-of-age moments - there's the heartbreak, the gross-out, the make-out, and the accidental drug freak-out. But what's fresh and fascinating is the way Wilde's film weaves its tale of identity and exploration through so many characters. Feldstein and Dever's Molly and Amy are outstanding, hilarious and hold the film together, but there is a fascinating parade of flakes, fakes, floozies and fools on the side that we also get to learn about along the way. 

How these kids are perceived and who they really are (and how they don't fully understand who they are) makes for a vibrant and beautiful mess that splatters across the canvas of a "one night on the town" scenario. It feels realistic too - the characters, though convenient in their characteristics, don't come off as kids written by adults. Their existential problems are intriguing, and delivered with humour and heart.

Wilde's direction is assured and energetic, with a couple of fantastical moments that may divide audiences in terms of their effectiveness. But she's taken a classic coming-of-age chassis, updated it, chucked on a few mod-cons, and given it a very fresh paint job. The resulting ride is fast, fun and will take you back to your youth.