Pans Labyrinth (2006)

Guillermo del Toro has masterfully created this fantastic fairy tale world within an already great story. This film captivated me from moment to moment. The creature effects are what Del Toro has built a career on, so it’s no surprise that they looked stunning in this movie, but god do they ever look good. I haven’t seen a lot of behind the scenes work for this film, so I don’t know precisely how those effects were executed, which is a blind spot on my part. Faun is a character that will stick out in my mind, most likely until the day I die. The performance by Doug Jones is incredible, and he brings that character to life. The rest of the performances and art direction in this movie are outstanding as well. The whole world is set up in a way that allows for this fairy tale element to feel much more real. I would recommend this film to anyone who hasn’t yet seen it.