Pan’s Labyrinth
{4.5/5} “Once upon a time when the woods were young, they were home to creatures who were full of magic and wonder.”
Pan’s Labyrinth, released in 2006
In Spain in 1944 Ofelia moves with her mother to the home of her mother’s new husband. Ofelia doesn’t particularly like him — he’s super serious and always looking at his watch. He’s also a captain in the army, and some members of his household belong to the resistance. While exploring some nearby ruins, Ofelia stumbles into a fantastic other world.
It’s about deciding whether you’re going to do what someone else tells you to do.
Since it’s a Mexican movie, you can’t expect it to go the way a Hollywood movie would.
It didn’t grab me quite as much as it did the first time, but you should watch it if you haven’t.
There are a couple of disturbing parts.
Stars Ivana Baquero and Doug Jones. Directed by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy). There’s some mysterious music by Javier Navarrete.
This is the second time I’ve seen it.
Spoiler alert
It turns out that the fantastic other world doesn’t really exist. This Alice in Wonderland-type story is on par with Bridge to Terabithia and Tideland and is much more interesting than Alice in Wonderland (2010), Coraline, and MirrorMask.