Why You Should Watch Spellbound was written by Nathaniel S. Published on Read Reel Reviews, this post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before Watching Spellbound
Length: 1 hr. 49 mins.
Categories: Fantasy, Adventure, Children, Musical
Date Released: November 22nd, 2024
Rating: PG
Suggested Age Range: 10 and up
Warnings: Major theme is divorce, some mildly scary moments and peril
Quick Summary of Spellbound
A year prior, Princess Ellian’s parents were turned into monsters and she has taken the responsibility of caring for them and ruling. When her birthday approaches, Princess Ellian is faced with two paths: try to find a way to transform her parents back to humans or let them live in a field across the kingdom and rule over the land herself.
Why You Should Watch Spellbound – Movie Review
Spellbound is a fun, musical film that really dives into what happens when a teenager is forced to be the parent(s) of the relationship. With Ellian’s parents turned into half goofy/half horrific monsters, she is left leading the kingdom while keeping the secret. This is partially done with some assistants, who at times come off as villainous, but seem to genuinely want wants best for the kingdom.
The music is probably the highlight of the film with at least a few songs that will get stuck in your head and heart. Alongside this, the characters are all relatively relatable (although some do go a bit too far into caricature at times). There was just enough fantasy elements to push the story forward without getting too much in the way or being too distracting. Special shout out to Nathan Lane Tituss Burgess for being two of the Oracles. Their dynamic was quite fun and rather cute at moments.
The scene in the cave where the spoken words were illustrative of people’s intentions/motivations was quite inspired. You can see characters like Ellian who are overtly positive people getting dragged under by the negative characters, specifically Bolinar at first.
One potential downside of this movie was the lack of a true villain. Most of the characters who were going against Ellian were honestly justified and never really pushed the line into evil. This has been seen in a lot of modern movies, but I feel like this movie may have benefitted from a clearer antagonist. But, as we will talk about in more detail below, the villain effectively becomes divorce and the effects of that on children.
A Note for Parents
Although it doesn’t really reveal fully until the end, this movie is wrapped up in the idea of a single child dealing with her parents’ separation/divorce. At the beginning, Ellian is having to take up many responsibilities due to the fact her parents are monsters. As the monsters become more human, they start to stop getting along with each other. When Ellian finally gets to the point where her parents are human again, it is revealed that they don’t want to get back to the life where they continue fighting all the time.
This movie takes the focus of the separated parents by saying that they should have been more focused on raising Ellian together. There is a brief moment at the end of the film where Ellian talks about that fact that her mom lives in one portion of the castle and her dad lives in the other. Besides that, this really isn’t brought up again.
Favorite Spellbound Quotes
“Didn’t we agree to make this whole thing mysterious and low grade spooky?” -Luno
“If I could find the way back to the way it was before
And we could be together there right now
I’d run without delay back to the way it was before
Run like mad to what we had
If only I knew how”
-Lyrics from The Way It Was Before“With you here, I was fearless
Year by year, I grew sure and strong
Now it’s clear what I really need
Is what you gave me all along”
-Lyrics from The Way It Was Before“Why does everybody keep eating all the important stuff?” -Ellian
“We’ve already been eaten by a monster, so I think we deserve it.” -Luno
“So sorry about the whole my mom eating you situation. It won’t happen again.” -Ellian
“If what you’re saying is true, I’ll never see my parents again. It’s hopeless.” -Ellian
“Everyone has dark feelings. It’s how you deal with them that counts.” – Oracle of the Sun
“I tell my eyes to try and not forget again. But they just get wet again”
-Lyrics from Remembering“Don’t make me choose between you!” -Ellian
“Of course we want to be human. We just don’t want to be those people again.” -King Solon and Queen Ellsmere
“If you can fall out of love with each other, you can fall out of love with me!” -Ellian