Coco

An animated film set in Mexico. Miguel wants to make music. His family makes shoes and music is forbidden in the house; his great-great-grandfather took his guitar one day and never came back. The Day of the Dead is being prepared. Photographs are placed on the altar; the face on that man's photograph has been torn off. Miguel steals a guitar to enter a competition. The guitar is in a tomb, and the moment he takes it nobody can see him. From there the film takes place in the land of the dead. A bridge, a registration checkpoint, a city of lifts and a concert. The rule is plain: whoever's photograph is not on an altar cannot cross. And whoever is remembered by nobody disappears entirely. To get back Miguel needs the blessing of a family member, and the only one he finds wants to keep him away from music. A man attaches himself to him. Hector is remembered by nobody and his time is running out. What the narrative is interested in is not death but being remembered: the film says dying is not the end, being forgotten is, and rests all its feeling on that. The song at the end is the lock of the narrative. It happens in one room, with one guitar, and almost no movement. Before production the team worked in Mexico at length; it was prepared with cultural advisers and the entire voice cast was drawn from Latino actors. There was a reason for that care: years earlier the same studio's attempt to trademark the name of the festival had caused a large reaction. The film won Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Song. Lee Unkrich directed, with Adrian Molina as co-director. Who it is for: any age; the narrative is clear for children and heavy for adults. Who it is not for: anyone who thinks the subject of death will disturb small children; the film handles it directly.