Watch the video to see the ending of Encanto explained!
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00:00When you watch your typical Disney movie, you usually don't think about real-life Colombian
00:05wars, imposter syndrome, or deep intergenerational trauma.
00:09But Encanto isn't your typical Disney movie.
00:13There's a lot more to the film's ending than you might think.
00:16When each Madrigal child receives their gift, the house creates a room just for them.
00:21So even though Bruno left the family, his room is still there.
00:25Earlier in the film, after seeing cracks form in the house that then patch themselves, Mirabelle
00:30entered Bruno's room in an effort to find answers.
00:34While Mirabelle finds glowing shards of etched glass showing a vision of her and the family's
00:38crumbling home in his room, she doesn't find Bruno, and therefore has no idea how to interpret
00:44the image.
00:45Later, while walking along a corridor of the house, Mirabelle notices a picture on the
00:49wall is crooked, and when she looks behind it, she finds a hole.
00:54She enters and finds none other than Bruno.
00:57Instead of leaving the family as the Madrigals assumed, Bruno has spent years living within
01:01the walls of the house, and between the isolation and the challenges that came with his ability
01:06to see the future, he comes across as a little odd.
01:11Bruno explains he disappeared after he saw the unnerving vision of Mirabelle in the crumbling
01:16house, adding that the vision kept changing and he couldn't figure out what was really
01:20going to happen.
01:21Caught in the unfinished nature of Bruno's vision, Mirabelle asks him to look into her
01:26future again.
01:27Needing more space, Antonio, who recently received his gift of talking to animals, offers
01:33his new, giant, animal-filled room for their purposes.
01:36Shortly afterward, we see Bruno and Mirabelle sitting together in a clearing, and Bruno
01:41is using his power for the first time in years.
01:44Bruno takes Mirabelle's hand so she can see what he sees, and soon he's brought her to
01:49the vision of her future depicted in the image she found.
01:52However, he pushes past that point to a vision of Mirabelle hugging her older sister Isabella,
01:58which seems to heal the family's problems.
02:01Mirabelle finds the vision perplexing, though, since she and Isabella don't get along.
02:05While Mirabelle isn't thrilled with the idea, she's willing to do what it takes to help
02:09her family, so she seeks out Isabella with the intention of hugging her as Bruno's vision
02:14dictates.
02:15Earlier, Mirabelle ruined a dinner at which local hunk Mariano was supposed to propose
02:20to Isabella.
02:22So when Mirabelle tries to get that hug, Isabella responds by yelling at Mirabelle for destroying
02:27her moment.
02:28But then, Isabella concedes she was only willing to marry Mariano because Abuela Alma approved
02:34of the match.
02:35She admits she spent her whole life being as perfect as possible for the good of the
02:40family, suppressing whole parts of herself in the process.
02:43As Isabella yells, she sprouts flowers until her anger reaches its apex and she creates
02:49a cactus.
02:51She's delighted by her prickly and imperfect creation, and it makes her wonder what else
02:56she can do with her powers if she doesn't have to be perfect.
03:00She and Mirabelle sing, What Else Can I Do?, as Isabella further celebrates the joys of
03:05embracing her true self.
03:07As Isabella's song ends and she and Mirabelle arrive in the courtyard of the Madrigal's
03:12Abuela Alma is there to greet them.
03:15Isabella has spent the entirety of her song exploring the limits of her powers, which
03:20means she created plants that aren't beautiful, but are a fuller expression of who she really
03:25is.
03:26This has caused her to make a mess of her dress and hair, turning them from put-together
03:31perfection to a colorful hodgepodge, and Abuela is furious to see it.
03:36Yet Mirabelle ends up bearing the brunt of Abuela's ire when she once again tries to
03:41express her concerns about the magic in the house flickering out, the Madrigal's gifts
03:45and their magical houses powered by a candle that Abuela prayed to during her flight from
03:50her original home 50 years ago.
03:52In the time since, the candle has never gone out, and the magical miracle has become the
03:57source of the Madrigal's identity in the community.
04:00So instead of taking her concerns seriously, Abuela is angered by Mirabelle's repeated
04:05suggestions that the candle could go out and the magic could die.
04:09Abuela and Mirabelle argue fiercely, and as they do, more cracks start to appear in
04:14the foundation of the house, to the astonishment and horror of everyone in the family.
04:20As a crack splits the ground between granddaughter and grandmother, Mirabelle springs into action.
04:25The house starts to crumble as Mirabelle climbs to the open window where the Madrigal family's
04:29magical candle sits.
04:31The rest of the family saves one another from falling debris and runs from the house just
04:35as Mirabelle reaches the candle, only to find that for the first time it has melted
04:40to a tiny husk.
04:42When the dust clears and the house is nothing more than a pile of rubble, Mirabelle is nowhere
04:47to be found.
04:49The family, especially Mirabelle's mother and father, don't know where she went and
04:53spread out into the nearby mountains and forest in the hopes of finding her.
04:58Ultimately, it's Abuela Alma who discovers Mirabelle sitting by the side of a river that
05:02she hasn't gone near since she arrived in their current home half a century ago.
05:08Now that the worst has come to pass, Abuela's anger has dissipated, but Mirabelle is still
05:13hurt and defeated.
05:15Abuela reveals that the river Mirabelle is sitting beside is where Mirabelle's grandfather,
05:20Abuela's husband Pedro, died while trying to defend her and their children from the
05:25people that forced them to leave their original home.
05:28After the collapse of their house, Abuela has come to realize she's been holding on
05:32too tight to the family's miracle.
05:34She was so traumatized by the loss of her husband that the idea of anything else bad
05:39happening, especially the loss of another family member, has caused her to see the family's
05:44gifts as a lifeline.
05:46It's why she hasn't been able to appreciate everything Mirabelle has to offer, and she
05:50sees her children and other grandchildren through the lens of their gifts.
05:54But Abuela is finally seen clearly, and she and Mirabelle reconcile.
05:59As they do so, Bruno rides up on a horse.
06:03He's worried that Abuela is still angry with Mirabelle and tries to take the blame for
06:07what happened to the house, but Abuela is no longer concerned with assigning blame and
06:11simply embraces her long-lost son.
06:14Abuela, Bruno, and Mirabelle make their way back to the site of their former house.
06:19As the only madrigal who isn't magical, Mirabelle tells them they can rebuild.
06:24And as the song All of You begins, Mirabelle reassures the group that they're more than
06:29their gifts.
06:30They can all contribute to the construction of their new house without any magic.
06:35As the family sings, and Bruno apologizes and makes amends with the siblings, everyone
06:40in the town approaches.
06:42The people who had always relied on the madrigals for leadership, assistance, and protection
06:46have come to offer their help to rebuild the family's home.
06:50The family and their neighbors work as a team, and as they build the house together with
06:54Mirabelle in the lead, the madrigals each learn to embrace who they are beyond their
06:59gifts.
07:00With the house rebuilt and the madrigals prepared to celebrate their triumph over tragedy, they
07:05hand Mirabelle a specially designed doorknob.
07:08As the family encourages her, she puts it in its place in the front door and lets everyone
07:13into their newly constructed home.
07:16With the foundation of the madrigal home restored, the candle reignites, and the family members
07:20once again have each of their gifts.
07:23So what does all that really mean?
07:27Encanto is never specific about the event that forced Abuela Alma and her young family
07:31from their home 50 years before the start of the movie.
07:35However, there are plenty of clues that suggest the movie is referencing a real historical
07:39conflict, the Thousand Days War, a civil war fought in Colombia between 1899 and 1902.
07:46The war pitted conservatives against liberals, who were outraged after an 1898 presidential
07:52election they expected was fraudulent.
07:55After the liberals were defeated in the first phase of the war, they resorted to guerrilla
07:59tactics in rural areas for the next two and a half years before finally surrendering.
08:04It's during this phase of the war that Abuela's family was displaced and Mirabelle's grandfather
08:09was killed.
08:10Encanto never specifies whether Abuela Alma supported the liberal or conservative side.
08:15Given the chaotic nature of the war, it may have simply been bad luck that led to her
08:20village being caught up in the fighting.
08:22Still, the long-ago experience of being forced to flee her home and seeing her husband killed
08:27in front of her led Abuela to cling to the safety that her new home and her family's
08:32gifts provide.
08:34When war came to their village, Abuela Alma had no choice but to leave a place that, based
08:38on the movie's depiction of it, had previously been a happy home for her and her husband.
08:43That experience alone would be traumatic, but the fact that it also led to Pedro's death
08:48meant the deep pain Abuela experienced was even more overwhelming.
08:52Throughout the film, Abuela talks of the miracle that protected their family on that fateful
08:56day, and how it continues to benefit their community.
08:59Still, underneath her positive exterior lies a well of trauma that's impacted every member
09:05of the Madrigal clan, leading to a family that's suffering from all the signs and symptoms
09:10of intergenerational trauma.
09:12Even though Mirabelle and the rest of Abuela's grandchildren didn't experience the trauma
09:16that led the family to their current home, Abuela's expectations and attitudes have had
09:21an outsized impact on them.
09:23It's constraining the way they behave and who they believe they can be.
09:27The Madrigals each choose to cope differently.
09:30Mirabelle's flower-powered sister Isabella tries to live up to the family's every expectation,
09:35to the detriment of her own wants and needs.
09:38Strong sister Luisa is riddled with anxiety because she believes if she's not helping
09:42the community, she's worthless.
09:45Mirabelle spends most of her time denying the fact that her lack of a gift has left
09:49her scarred and uncertain.
09:51The trauma that is an inextricable part of the Madrigal's origin story has also led some
09:56of the members of the family to suffer from imposter syndrome.
10:00While it's possible others in the Madrigal clan have this issue, the movie illustrates
10:04it through the characters of Isabella and Luisa.
10:07Each believes they may not be as perfect or strong as the rest of their family and the
10:10people in the community believe they are.
10:13This has caused them both to overachieve, which makes it appear as though they're both
10:16happy and successful in their roles in the town.
10:19However, the songs both characters sing in the movie indicate otherwise.
10:24In her song Surface Pressure, Luisa expresses her concerns about failing to live up to her
10:28strong image, a fear that drives her to tackle any task as quickly and efficiently as possible.
10:34However, while she acts like she's comfortable doing so much work, inside, her feelings of
10:40overwhelming exhaustion leave her feeling weak, riddled with self-doubt, and depressed.
10:45Meanwhile, Isabella is the star of the family, and her place as the picture of perfection
10:51has led her to continue to try and keep up appearances.
10:55Until she lets that control go in her song What Else Can I Do?, she's secretly afraid
11:00her family and neighbors will realize she's a lot messier than they know.
11:04While Encanto makes it clear that the Madrigal family has been dealing with some big issues,
11:09by the conclusion of the film, they begin to tackle the intergenerational trauma that's
11:13impacted all of them.
11:15They've also started the healing process.
11:18This is triggered when Mirabelle seeks out Bruno, forcing the family to talk about him
11:23for the first time in a decade.
11:25While the conversation initially scares many of the family members, based on the song We
11:30Don't Talk About Bruno, many of them are also happy to finally let their suppressed feelings
11:35about Bruno out.
11:36This initially leads to greater turmoil in the family, but eventually, it forces Abuela
11:42to recognize her children and grandchildren have more to offer than just their gifts.
11:47When it comes to intergenerational trauma, an adjustment by one member of the family
11:51impacts the whole family.
11:54Abuela's change of heart also makes the other family members see that there's more to life
11:58than their gifts.
11:59As they rebuild their destroyed house together, they come to embrace themselves and each other,
12:04with applause and all.
12:05By becoming more open and accepting, the Madrigals start to move past their trauma and become
12:10a happier, healthier family.