Ofelia befriends one of Vidal's servants, Mercedes, who's secretly helping the resistance, and at the same time, discovers a parallel world of fairy tales and magic.Īn ancient labyrinth next to the encampment is occupied by a faun - the movie's Americanized title led to many people mistakenly believing the creature to be a Greek cheerful deity Pan, while he is, in fact, a faun linked to Roman mythology - who claims that Ofelia is a long-lost princess Moana and needs to undertake three tasks to prove her true nature and return to her magical realm.įor Ofelia, the two worlds blend, each presenting its own mortal dangers. Vidal is tasked with hunting down the anti-Franco rebels, hidden in the nearby forest, which he does with brutal efficiency and no regard for human life. The story is set in 1944 Franco's Spain and centers around little Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), who arrives with her heavily pregnant mother (Ariadna Gil) to a remote base, commandeered by her new stepfather, Fascist and merciless Captain Vidal (Sergi Lopez). It's intense, twisted, and hauntingly beautiful and intertwines dark fairy tales with wartime horror to a startling effect. What Is Pan's Labyrinth About?Ģ006's Pan's Labyrinth is far from being a typical jump-scare-filled horror.

They cross the line into a magical world that is just as perilous as reality but provides a possible avenue for escape. Both feature a near-orphan child in danger from a maleficent father figure during the upheavals of the Spanish Civil War. Pan's Labyrinth is a spiritual successor to Del Toro's previous film, The Devil's Backbone. RELATED: Blade Synopsis For Marvel Studios' Reboot May Have Been Leaked

He's the brilliant mind behind such critically-acclaimed and award-winning films like The Shape of Water, Crimson Peak, The Orphanage (where he served as an executive producer), as well as more Hollywood-friendly titles like Hellboy, Blade II, and the Trollhunters animated series.

Guillermo del Toro, an acclaimed Mexican director, writer, and producer, is a true master of complex and deep horror, where nothing is as it seems, and the grotesque is infused with visual and poetic beauty. Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth ( El Laberinto Del Fauno) delivers a haunting, mesmerizing, and transcendent experience that blurs the lines between dark fantasy and even darker reality where the real monster doesn't have claws, and a happy ending is as elusive as a fairy. There are different types of horror - some movies throw bloodthirsty monsters at the unsuspecting audience, others send ruthless serial killers, and others manifest supernatural beings with dubious agendas.

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