Anastasia: Once Upon a Time

Rasputin created the portal to save Anastasia from the Bolshevik threat in 1917 Russia. As an old friend of the Romanov family, he used his magical abilities to help her escape when Vladimir Lenin's forces threatened the family. The portal transported her seventy years into the future to keep her safe from harm.

Early in the film, Rasputin is established as a family friend who possesses magical powers, which explains why he would intervene to protect Anastasia.

Rasputin is not acting of his own free will. The enchantress Yara has hypnotized him and forces him to pursue Anastasia. Yara is working with Vladimir Lenin to capture the young duchess, using Rasputin's magical abilities against the very person he originally tried to protect.

The film establishes early on that Yara is secretly collaborating with Lenin and has magical powers of her own.

The amulet is a magical gift from Rasputin that glows when Anastasia is near someone she can trust. It serves as a guide in the unfamiliar modern world, helping her determine who is trustworthy. The amulet glowed when she met Megan, confirming their friendship was genuine.

The amulet's magical property is introduced when Anastasia first meets Megan, establishing it as a plot device that validates true friendship.

After separating from Anastasia at the Halloween party, Megan's school bullies initially convince her that Annie left on her own. However, when Megan watches a live local news broadcast showing a traffic accident, she spots Annie and Rasputin in the background. This visual evidence makes her realize Anastasia was abducted.

The news broadcast detail plants the idea that media can reveal truth, which becomes crucial to Megan's discovery.

Megan tracks Rasputin to the park where she first met Anastasia and distracts him, giving Anastasia time to open a new portal. She travels back to moments before her original 1917 journey, which allows her family to flee while Rasputin stays behind to buy them time. This altered timeline changes what happened to her family.

The film establishes that portals can be created and used for time travel, making this mechanism possible within the story's rules.

Rasputin stays behind to hold off the Bolshevik forces, giving Anastasia's family time to escape through the portal. Although hypnotized by Yara for most of the film, his original protective instincts toward the Romanov family resurface during the climax, allowing him to make this noble choice.

Rasputin's initial role as the family's protector and his magical abilities set up his ability to defend them in the final moment.

After changing the past, Anastasia apparently lived out her life in the modern world rather than remaining in 1917. By 1989, she is now eighty-three years old and happens to move in next door to Megan. The exact details of how this occurred are revealed when Anastasia invites Megan inside to tell her everything.

The film's hopeful, whimsical tone and the time travel mechanism set up the possibility that Anastasia chose to live in the future.

Megan gives Anastasia one of a pair of "best friend" bracelets she had bought long ago but never had a friend to give it to until meeting Anastasia. The bracelet symbolizes their friendship and companionship, representing the bond that developed between the two lonely girls.

The bracelet was introduced earlier as something Megan kept waiting for the right friend to give it to.

Vladimir Lenin leads the Bolsheviks who threaten the Romanov family in 1917 Russia. As a Russian Grand Duchess, Anastasia is a target of the revolutionary forces. Rasputin's portal was created specifically to protect her from this real-world political threat.

The film's historical backdrop establishes Lenin's role as the villain representing the Bolshevik threat.