Review Roundup: Rachel Zegler-Led Musical Film SPELLBOUND

The new animated musical film Spellbound is out now on Netflix, featuring Rachel Zegler, Nicole Kidman, Nathan Lane, Tituss Burgess, Olga Merediz, and Javier Bardem.

Spellbound follows the adventures of Ellian, the tenacious young daughter of the rulers of Lumbria who must go on a daring quest to save her family and kingdom after a mysterious spell transforms her parents into monsters. 

Spellbound is directed by Vicky Jenson with an original score from EGOT-winning composer Alan Menken and lyrics by Glenn Slater.  The movie is written by Lauren Hynek & Elizabeth Martin and Julia Miranda and produced by John Lasseter, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Bruce Anderson and Linda Woolverton for Skydance Animation. 

Read the reviews for Spellbound here!

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Ben Kenigsberg, The New York Times: The movie, directed by Vicky Jenson, one of the filmmakers behind “Shrek,” has assembled all the standard ingredients: fairy tale trappings; a treacherous, “Oz”-ian journey across a mystical land; wizard types voiced by Broadway pros (Nathan Lane and Tituss Burgess), for comic relief; and would-be earworms by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater that are catchy in the moment but that you might struggle to hum afterward. Lithgow’s “I Could Get Used to This,” an “Under the Sea”-style showstopper that his character sings after swapping bodies with Ellian’s purple rodent pet, is an exception.

Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter: The film flaunts vivid animation and some pretty striking moments, captured with close-ups and unexpected angles — but similar to Skydance Animation’s debut venture Luck, Spellbound inspires a sense of déjà vu. Its focus on the relationship between a young person and a parent who’s been transmuted from human to animal form recalls the plots of Pixar’s Brave and Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away. 

Peter Debruge, Variety: With no conventional villain, the movie relies on something it calls “the Darkness,” depicted here as a ticker-tape tornado of negative feelings, which threaten to corrupt even the positive-minded Ellian. Rather than spoil what it all means, trust that the eventual explanation is a smart one, with useful lessons to impart about how much kids can (or should even try to) control when faced with drastic family changes. In the end, Jenson’s most radical twist on fairy-tale tradition is the belief that a pat “happily ever after” isn’t nearly as helpful as providing an example of how to cope with unhappiness.

Chase Hutchinson, The Wrap: While Zegler has more than proven her singing chops in films like “West Side Story” and “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” “Spellbound” rarely gives her real moments to shine. Though they couldn’t be more different in their presentations, it ends up becoming similar to her upcoming film “Y2K,” both in how directionless and meandering they manage to be as well as how each ultimately wastes Zegler’s talents. For far too many large stretches of “Spellbound,” it feels like we are being bogged down in expository setup for the energetic and fun adventure film it wants to be. It reaches a point that feels like it is at risk of never getting there, leaving the bits that should be the focus feeling rushed and shallow. 

Robbie Collin, Telegraph: If Skydance’s previous film, 2022’s Luck, felt like an attempt by Lasseter to “do Pixar” off-site, Spellbound is essentially the Disney equivalent – and it fills a cultural gap the older studio seemed to lose interest in plugging a few years back. (Though perhaps next months’ Moana 2 suggests a chance of heart on that front.) And while the animation itself doesn’t quite match the dazzle of its inspirations, it’s energetic and bright, and springy with wit.

Isabella Soares, Collider: When Zegler breaks into song for the first time, there is an immediate sense of relief. Musicals aren't just about singing in tune. It is about the emotions you convey, how the lyrics become a vessel for self-expression, and whether you would like to listen to a track beyond the film's runtime. All of these elements are present in this animation's musical imprint, which couldn't have been more masterfully handled. 

Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant: Spellbound, the Skydance Animation-produced Netflix film, touches upon the themes of family and the changing dynamics that could potentially make or break it. That is its greatest strength, but for some reason, it takes too long to make its point and underwhelms in other areas in the process.

Kate Erbland, Indie Wire:  Stories that are “timely” or “prescient” may be the norm these days, but “Spellbound” works a little magic to ensure that such messaging, as important as it may be, doesn’t get in the way of a good time for the entire family. That’s another thing we need now, more than ever.

Belen Edwards, Mashable: Despite the occasional fun touch — shout out to the odd couple Oracles — Ellian's journey plays out with an unfortunate blandness. World-building elements go woefully underdeveloped, like a magical key fob that seemingly has several settings and abilities, yet only ever sends out generic purple sparkles to get the job done. Tropes like Ellian's purple furry sidekick Flink feel overdone after mere seconds, a sentiment that only increases after Flink and Bolinar suffer an unexpected body swap.

Tim Grierson, Screen Daily: Ambitiously, Spellbound aspires to be an adventure saga, a musical and a tear-jerking family drama. But the sense of narrative deja vu — the nagging recognition that the film draws from disparate, familiar parts, rarely gelling into a coherent whole — cannot help but make the proceedings feel derivative. This is especially apparent in the humdrum animation style, which is bright and energetic but unspectacular.

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