Pan's Labyrinth(2006, Guillermo del Toro)

Whatever I write about this movie will not give justice to this nightmarishly beautiful fairy tale of a young girl trying to cope with the cruelty of post war Fascist Spain. The girl(Ofelia) played wonderfully by Ivana Baquero is uprooted along with her mother and are moved to a rural military outpost, commanded by her ruthless and cruel stepfather. It is there where the commander, Captian Vidal is trying to quell and root out resistance fighters. Surrounded by death and chaos Ofelia creates a magical world in which she escapes the horrors around her. Is this magical world a creation of a child's mind or is it real and only she is able to see it. I will leave that up to you to figure it out.

This is a Spanish film that has English subtitles, so those of you that are normally put off by reading subtitles in films, don't let that stop you from seeing this movie. Something magical happens during this film. The world that Guillermo del Toro(who is more well known in the States for having made Hellboy and Blade II) has created such a magical and mesmerizing world. A quarter way into the film I didn't even realize that I was reading subtitles, because I was so caught up in this film. It is one of those films that just sticks with you. I saw it a week ago and I'm still thinking about it. Go see it now!

Pan's Labyrinth official site
Pan's Labyrinth @ imdb
Pan's Labyrinth trailer