3/5/2021
Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina lead a predominantly Asian-American voice cast in Disney's action-packed, Southeast Asian-inspired quest adventure.
Add Disney’s new animated feature
Raya and the Last Dragon to the list of 2020 and 2021 movies you’ll desperately wish you could see on the big screen. Set in a magical land called Kumandra that’s heavily inspired by the verdant lushness and cultural artifacts of Southeast Asia, the action-packed quest adventure is streaked with teal and violet whimsies, punctuated by Indiana Jones-style obstacles and dotted by eerie, life-sized statues of people with their arms outstretched and their hands forming a shallow bowl, ready to receive grace. Those rock-hewn figures were once fathers, mothers, children and friends, until a barely containable force called the Druun — a glow of amethyst surrounded by chaotic, ink-black tendrils that’s all the scarier for its lack of malice or sentience — turned many of the people of Kumandra into their own tombstones.