An incredible film

Rating: 9/10 (28 January 2007)

One of the best movies that I've seen all year. It has wonderful artistic scenery, excellent acting, and for a fairy tale like story mixing with the reality of the Spanish Civil War, it works wonderfully.
The story involves a little girl who goes with her pregnant mother to live with her new father. Unknown to both of them, the new father is Captain Vidal(Sergi Lopez), a ruthless man in charge of destroying the rebellion which surrounds them in the forest. The first scenes involving him are all that is needed to show what evil lurks inside him, but we eventually see more as the movie goes on.
Ofelia(Ivana Baquero), is the young girl now living a life she is not happy with. She seems to create another world for herself where she is looked at as a princess who must complete three tasks in order to join the Faun(Doug Jones) who gives her these tasks in order to live this happier existence. We, as the viewers, find ourselves wondering if maybe the fairy tale is real. Near the end we will see the truth, but I am not about to divulge that secret.
As Ofelia lives in this other world, which could be true or not, we learn more about the other story. That story involves the rebels in the surrounding forest, a maid named Mercedes (Maribel Verdu), and Captain Vidal. There are secrets involving some of the characters, but as I stated above, I will not give any of them away.
Overall, this is probably one of the best movies I've seen all year. The director Guillermo del Toro, is wonderful with his cast and all his art designs. The Pale man (Doug Jones again) is definitely one of the scariest creations ever made. The acting is excellent, and the pacing fantastic. The only slight I had with the movie was some of the over the top violence, but other than that, this movie is incredible.