Pan's Labyrinth

In post-Civil War northern Spain in 1944, a 12-year-old girl, Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), moves with her heavily-pregnant mother and stepfather into a new home in the countryside. Her stepfather, Captain Vidal (Sergi López) has been sent to this remote area to rid it of a small Republican militia. Disliked by the sadistic Vidal, Ofelia, who revels in ancient stories and fairy tales, discovers an immense and ancient labyrinth guarded by a faun (Doug Jones). He tells her she is the long-lost daughter of Hades, the Greek god of the Underworld, and to regain entry to her kingdom she must carry out three tasks.

Saw this last night at Chermside and was completely blown away.
This has to be one of the most imaginative and compelling movies I have seen in a very long time. It's been getting very good reviews everywhere and I think they are well deserved. Some of the imagery in the film is quite amazing and is tied together with an excellent story, although sad and quite brutal.

I saw Apocalypto a few nights ago and was a little bit surprised by the graphic violence but I was far more shocked by the violence in this movie. Unlike in Apocalypto (and Passion of the Christ for that matter), I felt like the violence in this actually added something to the movie, rather than just being shocking. I felt a sense of fear and urgency that couldn't be achieved in any other way.

The movie is in Spanish with subtitles but unless you're a complete spastic, that shouldn't sway you.

Go see it. NOW!

just saw this it was awesome

Saw it yesterday. I thought it was an interesting fantasy tale mixed with a below average resitance movie.

The violence in Apocalypto may shock more people due to the savagry involved. You expect callous execution and torture when watching a "The Resistance fight the Evil Lord" type movie, but Apocalypto really brought the violence you read about in the pre-Spanish civilizations of the Americas to life.

Apocalypto was far more compelling viewing.