The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Everyone is swooning over Disney’s latest “Encanto”. And for good reason! It’s a charming movie inspired by a very rich culture. Many Disney movies incorporate fantastical or magical elements, but the debate around whether the genre Encanto lies in is magical realism or not has a lot to do with the heritage the movie draws on: Latin American. The debate itself is in fashion since magical realism, generally speaking, defies definition. Either way, the movie’s atmosphere draws heavily from the genre, leaving fans, especially newcomers to the genre, wanting more.

Here are another five magical realist movies to watch!

Like Water for Chocolate (Como Agua Para Chocolate)

The 1992 Mexican film is based on the Mexican novelist Laura Esquivel’s novel carrying the same title. Like Encanto, the movie revolves heavily around traditions and involves fantastical elements against an otherwise realistic background. The film follows the youngest daughter of the family, Tita, who can infuse her feelings into the food she cooks. Everyone who eats her food magically feels what she’s feeling, which is sadness for being forbidden from marriage until her mother’s death, as per tradition.

 

Tigers Are Not Afraid 

Rather than romantic drama, this Mexican 2017 film plays more on a dark fairy tale style. The film follows a young girl, Estrella, whose mother suddenly disappears and finds herself joining a gang of children. The gang tries to survive a destroyed city brought to its knees by the Mexican Drug War directly dealing with the cartels. Issa López, the writer and director, fuses harsh realism with fantastical elements to showcase the best of both.

Pan’s Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno)

The predecessor to “Tigers Are Not Afraid” (in more ways than one), Pan’s Labyrinth, is a 2006 Spanish-Mexican film written and directed by Guillermo del Turo. Set five years after the Spanish Civil War, still early in Francoist Spain, the film follows the step-daughter of a Falangist Captain, Ophelia. She lives an intertwined story of the real world, consisting of her mother’s marriage and subsequent illness, with a mythical world where she’s led to believe she’s the reincarnation of a princess from the underworld. Both elements of reality and magic bleed onto each other and affect Ophelia’s harsh story equally.

The House of the Spirits (Das Geisterhaus)

German production, Latin American story, with English as the main language, this 1993 film sure knows how to incorporate more than just reality and fantasy. Based on the novel La Casa de Los Espíritus by Isabel Allende, the film follows the multigenerational life of the Trueba family and traces the post-colonial social and political upheavals of Chile set mainly during the military dictatorship.

Big Fish

Tim Burton’s 2003 lovely cinematic piece follows a simple enough story: A son, Will Bloom, returns home to care for his dying father, a man who had a penchant for telling unbelievable stories. After he passes away, Will tries to find out if his tales were true. But as Will soon learns, and with him the viewers, the film never gives an easy answer to where fiction ends and reality begins.