In 1944 Spain, a civil war is just ending and a Captain and his entourage are clearing the forest of the resistance. He invites his new pregnant wife and her daughter, Ofelia, out to his post in the woods so that his new son can be born alongside him. Ofelia, meanwhile, discovers a labrinth nearby and meets a faun and his fairies at its center. The Faun insists she's the long-lost princess of a magical underground kingdom and gives her 3 tasks to carry out to prove she's worthy of reclaiming her throne.
This film is absolutely brilliant! Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed this masterpiece in his native language. (If you don't understand Spanish, ensure you have subtitles!) It's really two stories in one. On one hand, you follow a cold-hearted Captain and those around him as they fight a battle against resistance members intent on staying free from the oppressive government. On the other hand, Ofelia is caught up in a fairy tale where she has to perform tasks in order to prove her worth as a princess.
Both stories flow seamlessly together and Ofelia's story is just ambiguous enough to leave you guessing whether her magical world is real or just a figment of her imagination. The ending is beautiful and sad and satisfying all at once. It's such a wonderful movie that makes you feel for all the characters and their plight. This is definitely a must-see. I wouldn't necessarily list this as horror, but it doesn't shy away from violent deaths (especially at the hands of the Captain), plus at least one of the fantasy creatures was horrifying enough, my wife couldn't sit still while he was pursuing Ofelia. So it gets a horror pass from me.
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