An animated musical princess fantasy adventure about caring for parents with dementia doesn’t exactly sound like a propitious high concept. And sure enough, Vicky Jenson’s Spellbound struggles to connect its somber emotional material with its whimsical and formulaic genre approach.
Ellian (Rachel Zegler) is a 15-year-old princess in a magical kingdom with (among other wonders) trained, giant, winged cat steeds. But she also has a painful secret: the preceding year, her parents, Queen Ellsmere (Nicole Kidman) and King Solon (Javier Bardem), were transformed into monsters who growl and fight and wreck the castle. Ellian has had to take care of all the kingdom’s business herself. In a last ditch effort to save her parents and her childhood, she sets off on a quest with the two of them to find a magic light in the forests of eternal darkness to bring them back to themselves.
The reversal of caregiving roles—the child having to look after the parents—is painful and poignant. So is Ellian’s desperate determination to prove that her parents still remember her and care about her, despite all the evidence to the contrary. There’s not a lot of time to live with that difficult material though, amidst all of the (indifferent) musical numbers and the (predictable) adventuring. And when you do have time to think about it, the handling of the theme raises some uncomfortable questions. Like, is it a good idea to tell kids that they can reverse serious mental illness in their caregivers if they are courageous and go on a fun quest?
Eventually, it becomes clear that the metaphor is more about divorce and parental separation than mental decline. But the late gear shift feels clumsy and disorienting, and in any case, begs some of the same questions, especially when the film suggests that Ellian’s understandable anger and resentment have to be fought off, lest they corrupt her. The ambition in Spellbound is admirable, but what Jenson wants to say just doesn’t fit well into the Disney-esque box she’s trying to shove it into. Given the garbled messages and the lackluster presentation, it’s difficult to recommend this for children of any age. PG, 109 min.
Netflix, limited release in theaters
Reader Recommends: FILM & TV
Our critics review the best on the big and small screens and in the media.
Interior Chinatown takes an ambitious, meta approach to satire of racism and police procedurals.
Wicked is a fantastic movie musical epic that hits all the right notes and stays true to its source material.
Alice Maio Mackay’s trans slasher film Carnage for Christmas is a satisfying holiday treat.
A new addition to the Dune franchise gives an intriguing perspective on vengeance, power, and humanity itself.
Payal Kapadia’s latest film finds a refreshing tenderness and subtlety in this story of burgeoning love.
Your Monster is a tropey but enjoyable horror rom-com with perfectly cast leads.