I actually saw it twice in theaters, once with my ex and once with my family. I cried the second time too, with my family. Not as much, but still a pretty decent cry. But it was really that first time through that hit me like a truck. It’s just so damn tear-jerky.
Oh, this is a good time to include your OFFICIAL SPOILER WARNING!
With any Disney/Pixar movie, you can expect to cry at the end. The end always gets ya. And in Up’s case, the beginning, too. However, Coco was special in the fact that it made me cry from the middle all the way to the end. And cry disgustingly hard. I was wiping snot on my damn sleeves for thirty minutes straight.
As many of you know, I am extremely white. Just, the palest bitch around. However, part of my family is Mexican. And I’ve always been interested in Mexican culture, festivities, food, etc. (I mean, who doesn’t absolutely love Mexican food?) This list of interests includes the Day of the Dead! I’ve always wanted to celebrate it, like authentically celebrate it with my family, but never really have. My grandma makes tamales and the like, but that’s about it.
Despite this, Coco felt familiar to me in many ways. The familial love, that value of family above all, is something very apparent in my family, especially the Mexican side. I saw my own great grandma, or as my grandma calls her, mamacita (little mother), in Mama Coco. After my family and I saw the movie together, it was nice hearing my grandma talk about how much it reminded her of her past, her life in Chula Vista and her family.
So, I think Coco hit me different for many reasons, personal reasons to do with family and the desire to be a part of a culture I’m not. This all of that is beside the point that the film has some seriously heart-wrenching moments.
From the moment Miguel finds out he’s related to Hector, to the part where Hector and Imelda send him back to the living world, to the scene where Coco walks across the marigold bridge with her parents, Coco is packed to the brim with emotional scenes that will at the very least make you tear up, if not full on cry. These tearful moments were so back-to-back, so relentless, that (like I previously mentioned) I cried from the middle all the way until the very end. The film just keeps hammering you with them!
Coco is regarded as one of the most beautiful animated films of all time, and while it’s true it is visually stunning, it is also beautiful in the way of writing. Disney-Pixar movies have storytelling and making people cry down to a science. Or maybe an art. An artful science. A scientific art? Yeah.
I truly love this movie, and if you haven’t seen it, I can’t recommend it enough. The music, the animation, the characters, everything about it is to die for. HAHA. Okay, you’re right, that was terrible.
Anyways, if you have seen this movie, tell me what you thought about it! Did you cry (your answer better be yes)? Did you love it? Let me know in the comments! And have a great day.
-AMS