Pan’s Labyrinth

Pan’s Labyrinth

Guillermo del Toro’s cult dark fantasy, newly restored in 4K

Spain, 1944. Ofelia and her mother move in with her new stepfather, Captain Vidal, a ruthless officer in Franco’s army who demands absolute obedience. Increasingly isolated in his house, Ofelia discovers an old labyrinth nearby, where she encounters a mysterious faun. The creature tells her that she is the long-lost princess of a magical kingdom. To return to it, she must complete three tasks. For Ofelia, the challenge offers a way to escape the violence of the adult world and find a place where she truly belongs. But she soon discovers that the faun’s tasks are far more dangerous than she imagined, and that his promises may not be easy to trust.

“Pan’s Labyrinth” is a dark fairy tale for adults, combining fantasy adventure with horror and a powerful drama about life under fascist rule. Guillermo del Toro restores fairy tales to their original sense of danger and cruelty: magical creatures have agendas of their own, the trials demand sacrifice, and disobedience can come at a high price. The encounter with the Pale Man, a creature with eyes in the palms of his hands, remains one of the most unforgettable nightmares in modern cinema. Yet Vidal is no less terrifying in the quiet, matter-of-fact way he inflicts violence on others. Among strange creatures, underground chambers, and brutal acts of violence unfolds the story of a child forced to decide for herself whom she can trust. It is a film that dazzles with its imagination while never sparing either its characters or its audience.

Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, the film became one of the defining works of his career. Ivana Baquero brings both vulnerability and determination to the role of Ofelia, while Sergi López gives a chilling performance as Vidal and Maribel Verdú plays Mercedes, a housekeeper secretly working against him. Doug Jones brings an extraordinary physical presence to both the Faun and the Pale Man. The film won three Academy Awards, for Guillermo Navarro’s cinematography, production design, and makeup. Twenty years after its original release, “Pan’s Labyrinth” returned to Cannes as part of Cannes Classics. Its craft and visual imagination remain as striking as ever.