Living with her tyrannical stepfather in a new home with her pregnant mother, 10-year-old Ofelia feels alone until she explores a decaying labyrinth guarded by a mysterious faun who claims to know her destiny. If she wishes to return to her real father, Ofelia must complete three terrifying tasks.
Beautiful movie from Guillermo del Toro and while I did like the movie and its World War II-era plot, I can't say I was totally in love, feeling this was more style over substance, though the acting from the young Ivana Baquero was really good. 4.0/5
I think this is my favourite film, as yet, from Guillermo del Toro - and it gets better the more you watch it. Set against at backdrop of a Spain still trying to recover from it's civil war, the young "Ofelia" and her pregnant mother "Carmen" are sent to live with the rather brutish "Capt. Vidal". Now he is a singularly nasty piece of work and the girl longs to meet her own real father. It's in the middle of the night that "Ofelia" encounters a sprite who offers her some hope. It knows of a faun in the middle of a maze who might be able to help, and so they set of in search of this ostensibly sagely and benign creature. The meeting offers her far more than a glimmer, she need only complete three tasks and will find herself taking up her inh...