Pan’s Labyrinth was, far and away, the best foreign language movie that I saw this year. In fact, it was easily one of the best movies that I’ve seen all year. Moody, dark, and occasionally terrifying, this was one of the most perfectly rendered fantasy movies ever.

As a little girl, Ofelia, trapped in fascist Spain with a cruel stepfather (in the role of the evil stepmother), Ivana Baquero is amazing. The “real” world she inhabits is brutal and oppressive and the mythical world she escapes to is both fantastic and frightening. The acting is uniformly superb and the script, while perhaps not as deep as it imagines itself, is nonetheless effective and affecting--the care that the audience feels for the characters lends an urgency to the final act that is undeniable.

And what a final act! Without preachiness, Pan’s Labyrinth gracefully touches on redemption, sorrow, spirituality, and hope in hopeless times.

It’s a brilliant piece of filmmaking.