"Surface Pressure" details the struggles of Luisa, who wields the magical "gift" of superhuman strength and hence faces the stresses of being the reliable older sister in her family—the Madrigals.

As the third generation of the family grows into adulthood, cracks begin to appear in the walls of their "enchanted" casita, which leads Mirabel on a mission to find out what is diminishing their magic.

However, Mirabel's question of "what's wrong" is met with an emotional meltdown in the form of a musical track from Luisa that sees her letting down her guard, admitting her fears and weaknesses.

[1] Writing for Collider, Sebastian Stoddard said Luisa "is the reason the journey of the movie exists at all; had she not been in her position and lost her gift, it may have taken far longer for the family to notice anything wrong with their Miracle".

This confession illustrates how, underneath her strong appearance, she feels the weight of the world on her shoulders because of the burdens and responsibilities she carries as the older sibling.

[6][10] Encanto director Byron Howard said Miranda's lyrics added more depth to Luisa: "She's a fun, comedic, and broad character but to have this grounded soul really changed the way we saw her as she moved through the script".

Puchko found her to be a "dazzling vision of feminine strength" because of her physical abilities, countering that the song "makes her messier, more complicated, more real, and thereby a terrific representation of what it means to be a big sister.

[10] Jackson McHenry of Vulture noted how Lin-Manuel Miranda has honed a talent for writing about the stress of over-achievers, referencing Hamilton's "Non-Stop" and "Breathe" from In the Heights.

Some users include stories about the narratives of carrying the emotional weight of being an older sister, while others expressed how the song calls them out for adding pressure to their bigger sister/brother.

[1] Michael Ordoña of the Los Angeles Times called the song a "colorful depiction of her supernaturally strong character's secret struggles".

McHenry also noted that it should be acknowledged "that Disney messed up big-time and decided to only submit the act-two love song 'Dos Oruguitas' for awards contention, ignoring both 'Bruno' and 'Surface Pressure'".