Why We Need to Talk about Bruno … Attachment Perspectives on Encanto and the Problem with Burying Grief

This article examines themes of intergenerational trauma in the Disney film Encanto, and the relevance these themes might have for therapists working with those who suffer from intergenerational trauma. The film centres on the Madrigal family, a Columbian family who live in an unnamed village in an enchanted house, having been forced to move to flee violence. Members of the Madrigal family have special gifts. However, there is one member of the family, Mirabel, who does not appear to have a gift. It is Mirabel who notices the cracks in the foundations of the house (a metaphor for her family and their lives), and despite feeling inferior and different to her siblings and cousins is able to investigate further. She challenges the family culture, and goes in search of the mysterious Uncle Bruno. She then gathers the strength to embrace her sister with whom she had a conflicted relationship, and finally confronts her grandmother and the impact of her unresolved trauma. Drawing from Winnicott's concept of “false self”, Bowlby's understanding of the impact of loss, and Herman's notions concerning the role of community in healing from trauma, inferences are made about the implications of these themes for therapeutic work.