Raya and the Last Dragon unfolds a story of a Southeast Asian girl who fights for unity, and her own trust issues.

SYNOPSIS: Long ago, in the fantasy world of Kumandra, humans and dragons lived together in harmony. But when an evil force threatened the land, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, that same evil has returned and it’s up to a lone warrior, Raya, to track down the legendary last dragon to restore the fractured land and its divided people.

Talk about women empowerment and self-determination, Disney always got us with every tenacious female protagonist they are using to every movie. Raya and the Last Dragon tells a story of a girl from the Southeast Asia who struggles from her own trust issues which become a hindrance to achieve her goal as the story develops.

The story begins when Humans and Dragons lived in harmony together, but an evil force called the Druun came and turned both Humans and Dragons into stone. The Last Dragon, Sisu, took a magical Dragon gem and banished the Druun, but she disappeared by apparently sacrificing herself, together with her brothers and sisters.

Thanks to Sisu’s sacrifice, all the Humans came back yet the Dragons remained stone. The conflict begins as humans all divided into five separate kingdoms and have their own personal interests over the Dragon Gem, as they all fight for the gem, it was broken and the Druun return. 6 Years after that event in the present day when almost all humans have been turned to stone.

So seems like we’re off to a good Disney-ish start: a Big Fantasy World with, different nations, Villains, Magic, Dragons, and meeting different characters along the way from each of the Five Kingdoms.

The world’s broken you can’t trust anyone… Or maybe the world’s broken because you don’t trust anyone

The main moral to the story is “Trust”, as the film tells us that if you want to get someone’s trust, you have to give someone your trust first. Also the movie teaches us that people are more focused on their own interests they have forgotten about the how the world might become a better place as a whole if take care of one another.

Throughout the film Namaari (from another kingdom) chases Raya and her friends while Sisu is constantly telling Raya that she should learn to trust Namarri and give her a present so that they can peacefully reunite the gem, but Namarri has time and time again shows how untrustworthy she is. In fact Sisu on multiple occasions in the film is trying to give gifts as a sign that they are bestowing their trust to her.

Near the end Namarri accidentally kills Sisu because Raya didn’t trust Namarri,

This part of the movie tells us that the irony in this world is putting your trust and not putting your trust to others can both bring chaos. And sometimes it takes the first brave step from you for others to trust others as well.

We can tear each other apart or we can come together and build a better world.

In conclusion, Raya and the Last Dragon speaks about how beautiful and peaceful the world can be if we only put trust upon others (and not break it). Bringing the world together in unity takes a lot of hardwork, patience, courage and, trust, but it’s never impossible.