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Director Guillermo del Toro shows us what he has been working on for over a decade in this highly imaginative and visually stunning film, and it does not disappoint. Ofelia’s mother is pregnant but very ill, so they pack up and move to live with her new husband—a brutal Spanish Nazi commander. Things are not going well at the post. They are being attacked by rebels and there is a sense that the Nazi’s promised victory will not be realized. On top of this danger, Ofelia’s new step-father does not like her, and treats her as he would a bastard. This is no place for a child, so when Ofelia is alone, her imagination goes wild. She would much rather spend time in her fantasy because she is important there, and her actions are necessary to cure her mother. It is sometimes hard to watch the hardships she puts herself through, even in her fantasies, but they reveal every human’s need for some sort of control, some sort of cause and effect that they have a hand in. This is not a movie for children. It is tragic, but beautifully so. Del Toro has an eye for the fanciful and is careful not to overdo the CG effects, which is wise. But he is also a great storyteller, and this story is helped immensely by Ivana Baquero who plays Ofelia. You can’t help but put yourself in her perspective, root for her and hope that everything she imagines is real.
