Fantasy-loving girl seeks escape from her cruel step-father and the Spanish Civil War.

Rating: 9/10 (16 September 2007)

A very nice surprise of a film. Two plots are layered then gradually shuffled nicely by Director del Toro. A viciously brutal, ice water-artery army captain rules with an iron fist in the Spanish Civil War as he battles forest guerillas and a camp traitor. In the alternate plot his visiting, fantasy-loving step daughter falls into a Lord of the Rings type world where a king is seeking his lost daughter. The captain's evil, cold-blooded manner, especially nasty torture scenes, and some small scale but effective civil war fights, mix nicely with a faun who guides the step child back and forth between the war zone and a fantasy realm. There is plenty of tension, and solid characters, especially Baquero as the brave and strong-willed child, and Verdu as the guerilla placed inside the captain's camp. She battles a fearful and cowardly nature and winds up strong and loyal.