open/close all folders
Fridge Horror
- On first view, the Madrigals appear to overreact when they cannot find a family member. Pepa is on the brink of a storm when Antonio hides before his Gift Ceremony and the family conducts an outright search when Mirabel searches Bruno’s walls after the proposal dinner, and a more panicked one after she flees the crumbled house. Pepa outright screams for Julieta after she loses sight of her for a few seconds. This anxiety makes more sense when one considers that ten years before, Bruno (apparently) vanished from Encanto without a trace. It's highly unlikely the family handled this with a shrug; they must have searched for days, and every time a family member appears to disappear, it must bring back terrible flashbacks from that episode. Alma, Julieta, and Pepa took it especially hard. Alma had already lost her husband and then lost her only son, and it's clear that she bears some resentment against Mirabel out of misplaced blame. Julieta, to a lesser extent, fears that Mirabel might lose her way the way Bruno did, and she is clearly in pain from her brother’s absence. Although Pepa is still sore about Bruno’s role in ruining her wedding, the way she rushes to embrace him when he returns suggests that the taboo against his name might have more to do with feeling pain for the brother who disappeared before she had the chance to reconcile with him. For Pepa, the very idea of losing her one remaining sister must have been more than she could bear.
- Dolores' super hearing can be an awful power to have. She can hear whispers as clear as regular talking and a tiny pin dropping like it's happening right under her; just imagine being constantly bombarded by Every. Single. Noise around, all at the same time, at regular volume which for you would be at maximum. Her hearing is so good she even tells Mirabel she could hear "Luisa's eye twitching. All night." It's unclear if she even has a way to put her powers on pause or turn it off at any point like Isabela, her own mother, and Camilo's powers. Even when the house first starts to form massive cracks in the walls, she's noticeably the only one in the family covering her ears because of it, and her facial expressions makes it clear that it's clearly causing her pain.
- Imagine how bad it must have been when she received her Gift. The whole town gathered in one place as a five-year-old Dolores walks calmly to her new door and all is quiet. Dolores touches the knob and receives her Enhanced Hearing, suddenly Alma shouts "We have a new gift!", the music starts playing at full volume, everyone starts celebrating shouting with excitement and the fireworks explode like bombs, without the capacity to turn down the volume on everything that is happening around her.
- She lives in a house with two married couples, as well as a teenage boy and a very, VERY lonely single man. When she received her Gift, Camilo, Mirabel, and Antonio were not yet born, which means she would have heard... well...
- It's worse than that: there's an entire village of amorous couples all within earshot of Dolores. She's probably well accustomed to the sounds of courtship and affection and The Birds And The Bees on a nightly basis.
- Poor Dolores may have overheard people confessing their sins in the church, all the criticism or bad houses that people have said about her and her family, and the murder of multiple animals to turn them into meat that will later be on her plate of food.
- Probably not, as the creators have confirmed that Dolores' room is soundproof. Which does beg the question how she heard Luisa; didn't she sleep in her room that night?note
- A soundproof room is an excellent and even necessary idea — while she's in her room. But she doesn't live there full time. She still hears anything that happens before she's turned in and closed her door for the night.
- But if the soundproofing of the room only works so as not to hear outside noises and her gift still works naturally, she would hear herself having privacy with Mariano in her room. And all of this wasn't horrible enough. What would happen if she and Mariano wanted to have children? Dolores would not only have to hear herself having sex with Mariano, but also her own screams while she is giving birth and... you know.
- Fun fact, since mammalian ears are at the hinge of the jaw, our bodies have naturally evolved to turn down our hearing when we speak, so as not to deafen ourselves. Also, I'll give you childbirth, it's already traumatic, but why would being able to hear your own and your lover's moans of pleasure at 'maximum volume' be a bad thing?
- Pepa's gift of controlling the weather is also a terrible power because it has only given her a great deal of trauma and stress throughout her life, having to suppress her emotions 24 hours a day for over 40 years. She cannot be in a bad mood for a single day because she could affect the lives of all the people of the Encanto. Not only that, but also on the few occasions when Pepa can get in a bad mood, she has to go to vent to the village crops because it is the only way she can help with her negative emotions.
- Out of all of the characters, Pepa is arguably the most anxious and stressed out. In nearly every scene she's in, she's seen to be panicked or upset, even slightly. She's also seen to panic at and overthink every instance and has lots of trouble calming herself. Overwhelming and long-term amounts of stress has many negative effects on the body and can cause someone to fall ill or even die. The only reason she may not be displaying any outwardly negative health issues is because of Julieta's healing food.
- What must the weather have been like when Pepa was having her children? Does the whole town know when she and her husband are being intimate by the weather? Seems like a great way of having no privacy at all.
- There's probably a reason for why Pepa's children have bigger age gaps between them (Dolores is 6 years older than Camilo, who is 10 years older than Antonio) than Julieta's daughters (Isabela is 2 years older than Luisa, who's 4 years older than Mirabel).
- Furthermore, Pepa's powers are just terrifying. Besides everything known and implied, it doesn't get stated enough that if she were in an awful enough mood, this woman could destroy the town. Hell, it's a miracle that no one's ever died as a result of her storms, or at least it's never outright stated.
- Which begs the question, were there any casualties on her and Felix's wedding day? (Though given the fact that he calls it a 'joyous' day, probably none.)
- Imagine Pepa ever going on a plane. Turbulence would make her nervous, which in turn would create more turbulence and irregular, unpredictable weather patterns, which eventually would probably cause the plane to crash.
- If the weather was indicative of Pepa's emotions constantly, then she would never be allowed to feel sadness. If she hadn't had her siblings and Felix to show her how to feel, she could have been able to injure or even kill people with her powers, feeling no guilt or regret.
- According to Word of God, Bruno doesn't need a ritual to have a vision (it's just his way of calming his nerves) and can come to him at random. With this in mind, how many traumatic visions has he seen of people dying, getting tortured, raped etc. when he least expected it? Especially of his family? The mural even depicts Bruno as having a thousand-yard stare, one knowing and scarred... worst part? There's nothing he can do to stop the vision from happening. He's constantly burdened with things he never wanted to know to begin with... similar to how Dolores hears everything that goes on.
- More of a Fridge Logic issue, but Word of God has stated that sometimes Bruno gets involuntary visions. When this happened while he was hiding, did his door glow for a brief moment like we see in the movie? Did anyone in the family notice and freak out/rejoice thinking he might be back?
- Isabela's new powers are very impressive, but they caused a panic in Encanto and hit Mariano in the nose again. Imagine what would've happened had one of her plants seriously injured or even accidentally killed someone.
- If Isabela's gift extends to creating any plant, then it's a good thing that she and the family don't figure it out until the events of the movie. She would undoubtedly have been placed in charge of growing crops for the whole village, and once she started experiencing Power Incontinence...
- Camilo's shapeshifting gift is impressive and an ability many would like to have, but considering the multi-generational trauma the family faces and that Word of God described him as someone who "doesn't quite know who he is yet", confirms that Camilo may be suffering from Identity Breakdown. The worst thing is that being Out of Focus is sure that he still suffers from it in the present, hiding his insecurities under his cheerful demeanor.
- Thanks to his power, Camilo can only be of help to others when he is another person, that is, others constantly ask him to shapeshift so that he can fulfill what is asked of him. In other words, the adolescent is more important as other people than as his own individual.
- If this is true, there are a lot of terrible implications for Camilo's mental health and even more so in such a critical period of his development as adolescence. Imagine having questions like⁏ Who am I? What are my main characteristics? How do people around me see me? In what things can I be useful? What is my purpose in life?, but now adding an ability that allows you to be anyone but nobody at the same time.
- Antonio's gift seems to be among the ones with the fewest downsides, and he genuinely enjoys it from minute one... but think of the scene when the jaguar is trying to eat at Bruno's rats. Aside of the big cat obviously being NOT vegan, there is an uncomfortable question about where the townsfolk get their meat from. At some point Antonio is going to get to hear and likely befriend some of "the livestock" and then realize they are going to be butchered and eaten.
- According to official material, Dolores is 21 years old, making her no older than 11 when Bruno disappeared. Which means, Bruno told his niece when she was only a child that the "man of your dreams" would be out of her reach because he would be engaged to someone else. Dolores had to live with that knowledge as she grew older and started having an interest in boys, at the same time that no one realized the pain that the idea of Mariano marrying someone else in the present. While Bruno carried the thought of the pain that would cause his niece in the future because of his vision.
- Having access to the Madrigal family's magic for decades may have made the town less capable of fending for itself. For example, why would a doctor ever move into this community if they knew they'd be competing with Julieta's magical healing? Are there any medics around to step up if Julieta dies or loses her gift? How many professional skills are completely absent from this community because people can't make a living in fields being dominated by literal superpowers?
- That is an extension of the problem of the movie — reliance on magic rather than true connections and bonds.
- They are isolated from the rest of the world due to the mountains that sprung up to protect the refugees when the miracle started. There's no way a doctor or any other kind of professional could move in or out. And even if there were a need for one, what kind of training would be available?
- Although at first it seems exaggerated that the townspeople are afraid of Bruno because of his gift, if you think about everything from their perspective, it all makes much more sense because the Madrigal family and their powers can pose a great threat to them. To give examples, Pepa just by being extremely nervous for a moment, as happened on her wedding day, can cause a natural disaster of catastrophic magnitudes or Isabela who, by experimenting with her gift, can cause a great deal of chaos in the town. And even if their powers are not involved, with two members of that family having a conflict as simple as an argument can cause earthquakes and destruction throughout the Encanto. The townspeople have to constantly be alert that the members of the Madrigal Family have a good day and have no trouble avoiding danger.
- The townspeople's fear of Bruno was not only due to the apparent misery the man caused in the Encanto in the past, but they were also afraid to imagine the damage and terror that he could be causing in the place where he is hiding in the present.
- If the wedding between Mariano and Isabela went through, then the latter would've been stuck in an unhappy marriage with the former; while he may be a genuine Nice Guy, the fact is Isabela doesn't love him, and if one person isn't even romantically interested in someone else in a romantic relationship but is practically forced into it, unhappiness and bitterness are bound to follow.
- Now let's see the above from Mariano's point of view. Unlike Isabela, Mariano was immersed in the commitment and his mother supported him unconditionally. He did not know that Isabela was never interested in him and that she actually accepted the marriage proposal solely to make her family proud. If the marriage had gone through, Mariano would have married a woman who never loved him and imagine how devastated the guy would be to find out at some point that the girl he married had actually been lying to him about accept their relationship.
- Also, Dolores would have to hide her sadness over the man of her dreams being with her cousin. And given her Super-Hearing (with the icky implication she can overhear when people are being intimate), she would've also had to overhear the two being intimate on a near-daily basis.
- Extra Fridge Sadness, because the town calls Isabela so perfect and think her match with Mariano is also perfect, there's a painful underlying message that Dolores is not perfect enough for him.
- Speaking of such intimacy...yeah...while nowhere near as bad as many unfortunate examples there would be an air of icky-ness since Isabela is not genuinely interested in Mariano, at one point actually freaking out at the idea of him wanting five children. And speaking of which, if the marriage had gone through and produced children could it have been possible that they too could have become ensnared by such unhappiness and bitterness (either by the marriage deteriorating or, at worst, Isabela coming to resent them)?
- Think about what would happen if Mirabel had died in Bruno's room: The family would've most likely discovered it through Casita's help, and they would find the young girl's lifeless body, all heartbroken and not knowing what happened. Adding to that, it would probably further sour their attitude on Bruno, given that now they have an untimely death that was somehow related to him.
- Fridge "Non-Horror"/Brilliance, if you pay some attention when the door opens and Mirabel comes out of the room in a wave of sand, the door has a handle, and just before the door opens it moves as if it was being pushed on the other side. Meaning that Mirabel's chances of actually dying there were slimmer than at first glance for the simple fact that she was only banging on the door because on the panic of the room collapsing she didn't notice the handle/though it was broken (which would also explain why there is a relatively longer pause between the last banging and the door opening than between the previous banging, the pause may be the time she was noticing the handle and having a short blue-screen moment)
- It also would've spelled bad news for the Casita itself, and the gifts it gave the Madrigal family. Between the absolute heartbreak that Julieta and Agustín would be going through, the guilt that would've befallen Isabela and Luisa (the latter for not being there to save her, and the former for not being the nicest older sister), the sadness her aunt, uncle and cousins would be going through, (poor Antonio especially given how much he looks up to her) and Alma, perhaps going through a Heel Realization that she had purposefully shunned her youngest granddaughter simply because she didn't have a gift, and also that she had pushed her family too hard because of their gifts... it's likely that the sheer sadness all of them would be feeling would shut them off from each other, tearing the family apart and leaving the Casita to crumble. Maybe even leaving poor Bruno inside! The best-case scenario would be that they eventually patch things up later on down the road and try to move on, possibly bringing back the magic in the process.
- Luisa, in particular, would feel an immense amount of guilt because she's the one who informed Mirabel about Bruno's tower. And imagine had her grieving family found out what Luisa did.
- If Bruno had decided to show Alma his vision of Mirabel back when she didn't get a gift, what would Alma, who already has a perfectionist attitude and strict hold on the family, done to her 5-year-old granddaughter in a misguided attempt to protect the family's magic? Obviously, she wouldn't murder or exile her, but she would definitely be more active in excluding her, making Mirabel more self-conscious and thinking she was a bad omen at a young age.
- The day after Antonio's gift ceremony, Alma factually states that she'll find a way to put Antonio's gift to helping the villagers right away. Why is this concerning? Because it means that every one of her children and grandchildren have been working since, they were five. It's no wonder some of the members have anxiety and stress issues.
- The moment the miracle was created, several mountains grew around it to protect the townspeople from the conflict that unfolded in that country at that time. However, by the end of the film, with the loss of the first miracle, these mountains open up, thus exposing the Encanto to the outside world. At first this does not seem so bad because it would allow the inhabitants of the Encanto to have contact with the outside (taking advantage of technological and scientific advances that were lost for 50 years). But on the other side of the coin, it is almost certain that it will also leave them exposed to the wars that may develop in Colombia in later years and this could represent a great threat to the Encanto and its inhabitants.
- Imagine what would've happened to a young Alma and her triplet babies had the magic not come out in time. She was dealing with four armed men who deliberately killed an unarmed man. It's very likely they would've killed Alma and her children.
- Pedro in particular was killed by the invaders before knowing if his family were safe.
- How many innocent civilians did the bandits kill during their raid of Pedro and Alma's home? In fact, how many of them were family and friends of the couple?
- Had it not been for Mirabel's intervention, the family would've likely continued on with enforcing Alma's toxic mindset, even after the matriarch's passing. Meaning future Madrigals would've been riddled with insecurities, traumas, anxieties, and other issues but would believe it was the "best thing" to hide these feelings.
- Given how Alma was practically organizing Isabela's marriage to Mariano, it's highly likely she would've continued this unhealthy matchmaking with her other grandchildren. If they had not found a romance that Alma would accept, the matriarch may have subjected them to loveless marriages.
- Let's remember that Bruno at present, unlike his sisters, is single and childless. Did Alma ever try to force him into a relationship when he was young? Did she set him up on dates that he was totally uncomfortable in attempts to make him fall in love with some woman from town?
- Dolores is the second oldest granddaughter, so she would be the next one for whom Alma would find a husband. She wanted the union between Mariano and Isabela, Alma would not only have taken from Dolores the man she really loved but would also force her to commit to another one she never loved.
- Could it have been possible that Alma might have married Mirabel off to finally rid the family of it's "imperfection" (or at least get her removed from Casita)? If Mirabel had married someone she loved and refused to leave her home, how would Alma have treated Mirabel's husband and children?
- What would have happened if one of the grandchildren couldn't take the pressure of the proposal? How far would they be willing to go to avoid that future? What if they hadn't had the courage to confront Alma? Would they end up in Despair Event Horizon to the point of abandoning their family and not returning for fear of being rejected? If this happens, Alma would realize her mistake too late and much of the family would never forgive her for causing one of their children/sibling/cousin to run away.
- Imagine what would have happened if the house had not been able to protect the family.
- If the Casita hadn't protected her, Mirabel would have died a quick death as she was crushed by debris as she trying to get to the candle. After the house collapsed, Julieta wouldn't have had her healing food powers to heal her daughter's serious injuries. Julieta would carry the regret of not having believed Mirabel and not having supported her enough, Isabela would blame herself for not having been a kinder sister, Luisa would see the sister she could not protect dead, and Alma would realize how hardest she was with her granddaughter for not having a magical gift and blaming her for all the family problems.
- Had it not been for Casita's quick intervention, Isabela and Camilo would have suffered falls from a great height and would have suffered serious injuries that Julieta could not heal. Isabela, being the oldest, would have a little more resistance in her body than Camilo and in the best of cases she would only be left with a few broken bones, being able to move enough to try to get out of the house or scream for help. But Camilo, being a developing teenager, would not have had the same luck. If he had not died instantly, he would be unconscious without being able to do anything to escape the rubble, so the family would have to gently remove him from the ruined house to prevent him from dying of respiratory failure or blood loss.
- If Bruno had not managed to escape in time or had not been able to break one of the walls of the Casita to get out, the ruins would have fallen on him, leaving him on the verge of death without his family to save him. If he had died instantly, no one would have known until the house had already completely collapsed. The family would have found out the hard way that Bruno had never abandoned them and Dolores would have to tell them that he was living in the walls of the house all the time. Félix and Agustín would see who they considered a brother dead, Pepa would live with the guilt of never having forgiven him when she had the chance and instead having held a grudge against him, and Alma would have lost her son for the second time and realize that the last thing she said of him was "Bruno didn't care about this family!"
- Bruno must have lost who knows how much of vitamins and nutrients from not getting out in the sun and scavenging for food.
- More like fridge brilliance. One would think he would be unhealthy, but he is incredibly athletic and swift as shown in the chase scene. Yes, he’s been scavenging for food, but it was Julieta’s food he was eating. Julieta’s gift has kept him in good shape.
- Had it not been for Bruno's effort, however misguided, the cracks in the house would've appeared sooner and eventually the house would've collapsed.
- Alternatively, the family's problems might have come to light and been dealt with if he hadn't kept patching the place up.
- Given the nature of the Gifts appearing to be Personality Powers, it raises the question of what type of person Dolores is, as the main conclusion is someone who enjoys listening in on private conversations. Abuela at one point deliberately asks her to essentially spy on the village by asking if a proposal was going to happen that night, so we know she does use her gift for exactly that. The only positive use (and even that is debatable) is not telling the family that Bruno was hiding in the walls.
- A more charitable interpretation is that her Gift could have developed as a way to keep an ear out for when her mother suffers an anxiety attack or similar stress.
- The Gifts are bestowed when the children are only 5 years old, so it's possible she was just a very curious child. Which lends itself to another piece of Fridge Horror: Few people have exactly the same interests as an adult they had as a child. If Luisa had later on discovered that, say, her passion was actually sewing... Bad luck, she's the brawn, that's her role and her job. Or if Isabela had lost interest in flowers, or if Julieta stopped enjoying cooking.
- The doors to the magical rooms depicts the characters as they were at the event of the present day of the film. This does imply that whatever is bestowing the gifts have access to the source of Bruno's future visions. This does kinda raise the additional issue of free will. Aside from Mirabel we don't have any other confirmed visions that can be explicitly avoided (Dolores case doesn't really count since there wasn't an explicit descriptions of the betrothed becoming unbetrothed). Even in Mirabel's case it's a case of a Hobson's choice since the consequences of wrecking the magic on purpose is rather worse than trying to save it.
- After Casita collapses, Pepa could be heard off-screen urgently calling for Julieta. If someone was hurt, Pepa would call Julieta, of course, but what can she do without her healing powers? Thankfully it doesn't seem like anyone was injured, but just the thought...
- Alma's perfectionism can be best seen when Isabela sprouted flowers in her hair out of fluster, all of them pink except for a white daisy, which was plucked out by her abuela while she called her perfect. Not even in a completely human reaction, Isabela is allowed to not be color coordinated.
- In the same scene, Alma referred to her potential future great-grandchildren as "magical blessings", dehumanizing them and only seeing them as their potential gifts before they were even born.
- On that note regarding Isabela’s potential children, what if one of them also did not receive a gift? That would heavily damage Isabela’s “perfect” image and both she and her child would receive the brunt of Abuela’s disappointment. Especially considering the pressure Isabela has in keeping up her image. She most certainly would have resented her own child and taken out her frustrations on them considering she does it with her own sister. Except it would also be worse because she would have been having children, she didn’t want with a man she didn’t love. It would also mean that the carefully Arranged Marriage was All for Nothing as well. In addition, how would have Abuela responded? Would she have raised the expectations even higher? Would no one be able to have freedom? Isabela’s child would also have been completely miserable as they would have had to deal with the strict status quo of the house, being a disappointment and a mark of imperfection, and their mother’s resentment. Thank goodness for Casita warning them with the house cracks because it would have gone From Bad to Worse.
- Alma openly favors to Isabela, is open in her cold/harsh behavior to Mirabel, and, of her family, Isabela is the most antagonistic to Mirabel than other members of her family. Isabela later admits to resenting being stuck in her "perfect" role, not being to fully express herself. It's very likely Isabela picked up being overly cold/harsh to Mirabel from their grandmother.
- Antonio had to witness his grandmother treat Mirabel coldly and harshly simply due to not having a gift. He grew up anxious and frightened at the prospect of his own grandmother would stop being kind to him for such a reason.
- Since Mirabel didn't get a Gift, she also didn't get a magical bedroom — and apparently nobody thought to give or build her a normal one, even after Antonio was born. Her family was literally treating her like an infant by making her sleep in the nursery. At fifteen, she's already gone through puberty (and should have celebrated her quinceañera passage to young adulthood, but apparently hasn't) while being expected to share a bedroom with a toddler. Presumably the family built her a bedroom when they rebuilt Casita, but they weren't expecting to have to do that. How long, exactly, were they planning on Mirabel living in the nursery? Until she was eighteen, twenty-one, twenty-five — or even older?
- Neither Pepa nor Julieta moved out of Casita after they got married — would Mirabel be the only Madrigal not living in the family home after marriage? (Presumably, any future spouse would balk at the current sleeping arrangement.) That's if she gets married at all, since marriages in the town are at least agreed to, if not outright arranged, between families. If Alma didn't bother to influence Mirabel's matrimonial prospects, she might never be able to get married. She's certainly too attached to her family to strike out on her own in some way. And then what, was she supposed to sleep in the nursery with every subsequent generation of children until she died?!
- Fridge Brilliance / Heartwarming in Hindsight: After a certain point? I.e. if Mirabel falls in love and marries, maybe she'll move to Alma's room. Mirabel was, if you think about it, chosen to be the next head of the family. And because she will have shared a room with the youngest Madrigal children, will have a bond with the future Madrigals (her generation, so to speak) that will make her well suited for the role as the head of house.
- Neither Pepa nor Julieta moved out of Casita after they got married — would Mirabel be the only Madrigal not living in the family home after marriage? (Presumably, any future spouse would balk at the current sleeping arrangement.) That's if she gets married at all, since marriages in the town are at least agreed to, if not outright arranged, between families. If Alma didn't bother to influence Mirabel's matrimonial prospects, she might never be able to get married. She's certainly too attached to her family to strike out on her own in some way. And then what, was she supposed to sleep in the nursery with every subsequent generation of children until she died?!
- Did Julieta, Pepa, and Alma think that Bruno most likely died during his mysterious 10-year absence?
- Imagine their distress when one morning they find that Bruno's door isn't glowing anymore. Their first thought might have been that he'd had an accident in his room, falling down the stairs and broken his neck! They maybe tried to dig in the sand looking for him before even considering the possibility that he had just left the house. Alma told the adults about the prophecy she had asked of him the previous evening, so maybe later they considered he had quit after seeing some unspecified disaster; they very likely organized a search party to look for him, with no success (knowing about Dolores' gift, Bruno would have stayed very still and quiet inside the walls). So, in the end, they probably thought that he either had died in the jungle while trying to escape, or his powers had been shut down like the light on his door when he left Encanto.
- Considering how Isabela looked so defeated after getting scolded by Alma right after her song about being herself, it's possible that this isn't the first time she was criticized. Maybe she was able to produce less "perfect" plants before Mirabel did not receive hers. Did Alma crack down on Isabela after that and forbade the less "pretty" plants? If so, that would further explain Isabela's frustrations against her younger sister. That said, she's completely surprised by her ability to grow a cactus. At best, this means that she always only grew pretty flowers. At worst, Alma scolded her so much for it before that she buried her memories of growing anything other than what would get her approval, and that new scolding made them resurface.
- The creators have confirmed that people who leave the Encanto can return but have a hard time finding it. Has anyone went missing and never seen again just because they couldn't find the way back home?
- Had it not been for the cracks, Luisa would've been very close to a nervous breakdown with the many duties she had. In fact, it takes very little prompting from Mirabel to push Luisa to go into a detailed explanation (song) about her many worries and the pressure she thinks she has to shoulder for her family. It gives an idea on how close to a mental burnout she is at the beginning of the movie.
- What if anyone with a gift made a Face–Heel Turn? They could commit some terrible acts with their gifts but, realistically, in the enclosed society of the Encanto, their reign of terror potentially wouldn't last too long as it would start to become obvious who the perpetrator is and unless the Madrigals are totally self-sufficient, they'd start to run out of supplies if the village boycotted them. Though, of course that could mean leaving Encanto to spread havoc everywhere else in the world, where people are unaware of their gifts...
- Pepa could make life unpleasant for the villagers by ensuring horrible weather, but that would require her to remain in a constant negative emotional state which could lead to a mental breakdown plus she'd be living in the bad weather too. Also, since there's only one weather-witch in the valley, it would make her the target of an "unfortunate accident".
- Bruno could use his visions to manipulate people by blackmail from what he has seen or tell people their grim futures in order to break them. To a degree we see this effect in the film, but it was more due to misunderstanding or tactlessness rather than malice. How much worse would it be if he meant to be hurtful with even darker visions? However, people would quickly stop listening to anything he said (unless he forced them to, and/or was sneaky enough with his words to throw off suspicion).
- Considering the amount of flora in the average human's digestive tract, if Isabela now has control over growing all plant life, she could explode people from the inside. Not just this, but all sorts of potential executions are terrifying; strangulation by vines, poisoning plants, carnivorous plants...
- Dolores hears everything, and thus could use all the dirt she has on people for blackmail or to ruin people's reputations. Or she could just make stuff up and no one would question it because she's the only one with good enough hearing to know for sure what's true. But like Bruno, she has to be subtle about it so no one will suspect she's lying, and even so, she'd still have blackmail at her disposal regardless.
- Luisa is strong and could kill people without much hassle but she's not invulnerable and could eventually be taken down with long-range weapons like slings and arrows or poison.
- Camilo could impersonate people to frame them for stuff they didn't do, or to gain... gratification without the other person's knowledge of who they actually are. He could get away with this if he kept it subtle and spaced out his transgressions so as not to attract too much attention.
- Antonio could manipulate the animals to do cruel stuff, but we don't know if he can actually order animals to do something they don't want to.
- The Casita has the potential to be a brutal Death Trap. Whether it be The Walls Are Closing In, or Descending Ceiling, there are dozens of possible ways to die the moment someone sets foot in the house. But only if the victim gets near the house and a few fire arrows or molotov cocktails would circumvent that advantage.
- The movie is presumed to take place in or shortly before 1950. This is during the middle of La Violencia, a devastating political conflict that ravaged Colombia and was notorious for brutal violence perpetrated on civilian populations - that is to say, the WORST possible moment for the physical mountain barrier surrounding Encanto to develop a gap.
- Alternatively, there's a bunch of people looking to escape all that violence and death, something the elder people of Encanto, especially Abuela, can sympathize with, making Encanto exactly what they need. Hell, going on the bit about "The people of Encanto not having doctors" above, those refugees could have some valuable knowledge that might help make the Madrigals' jobs slightly easier and teach the townsfolk some valuable skills, or help the town should something happen to Julieta.
- The novelization reveals that Alma secretly thinks Mirabel is a lot like Pedro. Had she died or never found after running away, Alma would've gone through another child she raised and loved (who would grow to strongly resemble her late true love) leaving her. And she would be feeling massive Parting-Words Regret.
- Dolores may have been thrown a bone when she and Mariano get together in the end, but what if they eventually marry and have children? A baby's crying is already ear-piercing for someone with normal hearing, go figure someone with hearing so sensitive she can hear someone's eye twitching.
- Juancho (the kid who drinks coffee) is a caffeine addict and this is very alarming considering that he is just a child. Although his addiction to coffee is Played for Laughs, in Real Life the caffeinomania is as serious as addiction to any drug because excess caffeine can cause nervousness, stomach upset, headaches, difficulty concentrating and sleeping, frequent faster heart rate, higher blood pressure and nervous disorders. On the other hand, stopping consuming it abruptly also triggers withdrawal symptoms. Imagine all this in a child.
- In the Casa Madrigal there is no privacy. On one side is Dolores who has inside information on all of her family members and she can listen to everything they do. On the other is Casita who is also described as a character and can observe any member of the family at any time, even being able to enter the rooms without prior permission.
- Luisa could be discriminated against by people outside of the Encanto, after all, even today for a woman to be so muscular can be frowned upon. Now remembering that the film focuses on the 80s or 90s, if people who are not from the town saw her, they would most likely speak ill of her, and remembering Luisa's self-esteem...
- What if she's already been judged in the past due to her appearance. Although in the present the whole town adores her, perhaps when she was young and her muscles were beginning to develop, Luisa would have received some Innocently Insensitive comments from the townspeople.
- This would also put more Fridge Sadness on Luisa's depression after losing her power. If she has come to feel uncomfortable with her body, possibly she would think: "If I don't have my Super-Strength, why am I muscular?"
- Of her sisters, Isabela is the closest to Pepa and Word of God confirms that she even admires her. Pepa constantly gets scolded by Alma when she accidentally causes chaos by releasing her emotions with her gift. In other words, Isabela grew up watching her grandmother constantly scold who she sees as her second mother just for expressing herself, which must have had a impact on her fear of expressing her true self.
- Since Pedro is not shown being killed by the soldier, it is not clear exactly how he died. If the soldier who attacked him stabbed him to bleed to death instead of killing him outright, it means that poor Pedro was not only conscious enough to feel the pain of his wounds, but also watched as the soldiers rushed to kill his family unable to save them. So instead of a quick death, what you get is a desperate fight along with plenty of horror and despair.
- For roughly a whole day, the Madrigals were left wondering not only where Mirabel was but if she sustained some injury during Casita collapsing. They may have been left worrying in horror if a possibly injured Mirabel had died from said injuries.
- Mirabel does actually confirm to her mother that she wasn't hurt, which would be reassuring to some of the family, even though it likely wouldn't stop the worrying over potentially unknown or unacknowledged injuries. Particularly in light of just how far all the kids seem to be willing to go to hide their issues.
Fridge Sadness
- It is quite clear the Generational Trauma is at the core of the movie, and each character's power is both the cause and result of insane and traumatic expectations:
- Mirabel is the most developed: she is not like the rest of her family; she is viewed as a failure and an outcast.
- Luisa has to always be strong enough to withstand any challenge and shoulder the burdens of everyone around her.
- Isabela is never allowed to be anything less than perfect — hence, flowers that are pretty and easy to mass-produce but don't reflect how she actually feels inside.
- Everything around Alma has to be perfect and worthy all the time, or else she will lose everything again.
- Bruno is cursed with knowledge of the future, but more importantly how people will interpret it. He's seen as a harbinger of destruction and made into a pariah for predicting that a habitual candy-eater will gain weight and a goldfish that's kept in a bowl will die.
- Julieta is solely responsible for the well-being of her entire community since her healing magic is the only form of medicine in the isolated, mountain-walled village.
- Pepa is never allowed to be upset, ever, lest she create a violent rainstorm or hurricane.
- Dolores knows everything about everyone (that's why her hair is so big) and could literally destroy her community if she accidentally let the wrong secret slip. Her gift actively harms her since she has to shield herself from loud noises and a twitchy eye in someone else's room is enough to disrupt her sleep, fitting the metaphor that knowing too much and keeping everyone's secrets comes at her own detriment.
- Camilo has to be whatever his family needs him to be and is only ever valued for his imitation of others and their traits rather than for himself and his own traits.
- Antonio is under constant watch from his entire family, so he won't repeat the mistakes of the past. No pressure, though. He becomes completely isolated when the Gift Ceremony forces him to move out of the nursery (away from Mirabel), and the gift he receives is that he can become friends with animals rather than the rest of his family.
- Imagine the feelings of the triplets on each of their birthdays. Not only was it the same day their father was murdered, but they also had to celebrate it apart for a decade.
- Julieta and Pepa had to celebrate their birthdays as a couple of incomplete triplets. How much should Bruno's disappearance have affected them on that date? Did they come to blame themselves for not paying enough attention to their brother when he was still with them?
- Alma, did she come to blame herself for not having respected her son's wishes and only seeing the worst in him? Or maybe fearing that another family member would leave the house, she began to be even more strict with her family?
- How did Bruno spend during each of those 10 birthdays that he had to be completely alone and having to see how his relatives celebrate that date without him, knowing that he was only a wall away?
- Agustín tries to sympathize with Mirabel's plight about being a muggle in a family of basically superheroes, citing he (and Félix) were seen as outsiders. Then, the creator revealed that between the two fathers, Alma initially thought Agustín wasn't a good choice for Julieta but fully supported the courtship of Félix and Pepa. So, it's highly likely that Agustín meant Alma instead of the general populace of Encanto. In a sense, Agustín understands what it likes to not have Alma's approval.
- Is it not possible that, because Julieta was the golden child with the golden gift, no suitor would be deemed appropriate? However, Pepa was not able to help the village in such a way as Julieta was, so she wasn't considered important, or needing to bear the perfect children. Therefore, Pepa was able to marry for love instead of being forced to continue the family line (although Julieta probably still married Agustín because she loved him.)
- This is unlikely, given how eager Alma was to set Isabela up with Mariano. There might not have been a man who met her standards the way Mariano did in Julieta's generation, but her disapproval of Agustin does imply there was at least one better option in her eyes.
- Is it not possible that, because Julieta was the golden child with the golden gift, no suitor would be deemed appropriate? However, Pepa was not able to help the village in such a way as Julieta was, so she wasn't considered important, or needing to bear the perfect children. Therefore, Pepa was able to marry for love instead of being forced to continue the family line (although Julieta probably still married Agustín because she loved him.)
- When Bruno shows Mirabel the vision of her reconciling with an unknown person (Isabela), he first mistakes their hug for a fight, and shouts in apparent excitement when he realizes that it's an embrace. The poor man is so used to having problems with his family and the village that he thinks two people getting near each other means they're about to have a fight.
- Following Bruno's disappearance, the villagers and even his own family vow never to speak of him, and on the rare occasion that they do, they mostly focus on him being a malicious troublemaker who made everyone miserable. With the reveal that Bruno never left the house and was hiding in the walls the entire time, there's a very good chance that he could hear what they were saying about him.
- Isabela and Mariano look kind of similar to young Alma and Pedro, so maybe Alma wanting them to get married could also be an unconscious wish to bring back the figure of Pedro through Mariano into the family again.
- Pepa being angry over not finding Antonio makes sense once you realize that she was reliving a traumatic moment in her life - The previous gift ceremony (Mirabel's) had her only brother mysteriously disappear and now she (initially) couldn't find her youngest child on said child's gift ceremony.
- Camilo is lucky that it was Mirabel who ended up with no Gift and not him. Since Mirabel is younger, that means that as soon as she received a Gift, then the family would believe that there was nothing wrong with the Miracle and they had spent those few months between the ceremonies worrying about nothing. Camilo would've then been forgotten and left to the wayside to think to himself "why was I left out?" for years before the plot of the movie started.
- Seeing that Camilo seems to know very little about Bruno, there's a chance he didn't know what his Gift actually was, or if he even had one. Assuming Bruno still leaves in this timeline, Camilo may have been left thinking that only Madrigal women could receive Gifts, only to be smacked in the face by reality when Antonio received his Gift.
- Bruno's mysterious departure has another tragic air to it — Of his siblings, Bruno had the strongest resemblance to their late father, something Alma definitely noticed as he grew older. So, imagine her reaction to her only son, who resembles her late husband who she saw sacrifice his life to protect them, just disappear one day without notice or explanation. It must've left Alma re-traumatized.
- Just before the Casita crumbles, Alma outright states that she actually blames Mirabel for Bruno vanishing the night she didn't get her gift. Likely thinking, that Bruno saw a prophecy so terrible that he couldn't face it. The sad thing is, she wasn't entirely wrong. But Bruno only left to protect Mirabel, not from fear of her.
- If Isabela had accepted Mariano's proposal, what would she have become had she gone through with the marriage? Considering what people in real life have done to escape unwanted marriages after the pressure became too much, she would most likely either become a second Bruno or worse...
- Another option is that since she doesn't seem to have much problem hurting him even if accidentally, there's a chance that their relationship had become abusive.
- Isabela's opinion of her grandmother would have turned sour over the years. For starters, Alma placed very high expectations on Isabela since she was a little girl and forced her to have to be the “golden child” of the family, causing Isabela to sacrifice her own happiness to fit into her grandmother's vision of perfection. Isabela would think she ruined her whole life for her family only to be rewarded with Alma getting her into a forced marriage and giving birth to the next generation of Madrigals, ¿Anyone be surprised if Isabela ended up hating her grandmother in that future?
- Bruno's prophecy to Dolores was most likely seeing Mariano propose to Isabela during the engagement dinner. It becomes Harsher in Hindsight because if he had kept watching, he would have seen the proposal being interrupted and probably spare Dolores a lot of pain.
- Each and everyone of Mirabel's birthday is a painful reminder of her failed ceremony and how she became the only known as the "giftless" one.
- Of all the members of the family, it is Mirabel and Camilo with whom Isabela does not get along, both teenagers. Adolescence was probably the age when Isabela had to start acting like the "perfect golden child" of the family and Alma began to place her expectations on her as she was no longer a little girl.
- Being still hidden in the walls of the house, Bruno was not present at Antonio's birth. For the first time since the creation of the Encanto, the family could not properly celebrate the birth of a new member, which means that the negative feelings of the family and the townspeople towards Bruno must have increased enormously thinking that he didn't even bother to come back at such an important moment.
- Since Bruno vanished and the light of his door went out, did the Madrigals think that Bruno was Driven to Suicide either by his visions, or his being treated as a portent of doom by the townspeople? Particularly with Julieta's comments about Bruno having "lost his way in this family".
- Mirabel was known for "trying too hard" to help the family, to make up for her lack of a gift, and trying to save the miracle by herself. Not only did she fail, despite her best efforts, but Mirabel seemed to be the one responsible for it, since her confrontation with Abuela caused the miracle to go out completely. Fearing Mirabel following in his footsteps might explain why the entire family and the town was looking for her.
