- Directed by Guillermo del Toro
- Written by Guillermo del Toro, Antonio Trashorras, David Munoz
- Stars Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 46 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLfd9435XQI
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This one an interesting one, a ghost story in which that’s not where the danger is coming from. Living people are the problem. The young cast and adults, were all very good. The story and direction were top notch. We liked it a lot!
Spoilery Synopsis
We open on a wartime bombing run. A little boy lies dying from a head wound and then is dropped in the water, all bound up. Credits roll.
Carlos and some men are driven to an outpost out in the desert. In the center of the courtyard is a huge, unexploded bomb. An old woman says they defused it, but never came back to remove it. Carlos almost immediately sees a ghostly little boy in one of the buildings and goes inside. He meets Galvez and Owl, two other kids here; it’s an orphanage. The old people who run the orphanage say they can’t afford any more children. Dr. Casares, Alma, and Carmen are the only three teachers left.
Carmen mentions that they’re almost out of gold, and the Nationalists will soon be there to take the rest. Meanwhile, Jacinto and Conchita make plans to find that gold. He used to be one of the orphans when he was small, now he works there as a laborer.
It’s all pretty bleak there, and Carlos isn’t having a good time. He’s been given Santi’s old bed. What happened to him? He sees the ghost again, but then he and Jamie, one of the bigger kids, decide to go to the off-limits kitchen for some water at night. They walk past the big bomb outside, and the older boy says they can still hear it ticking.
Carlos makes too much noise in the kitchen, which attracts Jacinto’s attention. Jacinto uncovers the big safe and tries his key in the lock; no luck. Carlos goes exploring and finds a big cellar with a murky pool in the floor. We finally get a good look at the ghost; it’s a little dead boy. “Many of you will die,” it whispers.
Carmen and Casares talk about the rumors of a ghost there. The war is nearing an end, and their whole lives are going to change, not for the better.
Carlos goes back down to the dark pool and talks to “the one who sighs.” Jaime attacks him, but he ends up in the water, and only Carlos can save him. While they’re underwater, we also see the dead boy from the pre-credit sequence. Jacinto catches them all where they aren’t supposed to be, and he cuts Carlos on the face.
Dr. Casares shows Carlos some bottles with fetuses in them. Some of them have what he calls “The Devil’s Backbone.” These pickled babies are in juice that people drink to cure their ailments. We see where Jacinto is getting the keys to try in the safe– from Carmen.
Owl tells Carlos that Santi went missing on the same day the bomb fell. They all think he ran away out of feat. The ghost came with the bomb. Carlos believes that “The One Who Sighs” is the ghost of Santi.
Dr. Casares goes to town and sees something that worries him about the war; it’s truly hopeless. When Carmen goes after the gold so she and Casares can leave town, Jacinto tries to stop her. The old people turn the tables on him and throw him out.
Carlos tells Jaime, Owl, and the others that the ghost is Santi; some believe him and some don’t. The old folks tell all the children to pack up, as they’re pulling out and abandoning the place. At least, that’s the plan until Jacinto sabotages the truck and pours out all their gasoline and sets it alight. The resulting explosion kills quite a few children, as well as Alma and Carmen. Dr. Casares, deaf after the explosion, stands watch with his shotgun.
Jaime tells Carlos about what happened with Santi. The two boys were digging for bugs in the basement, and Santi caught Jacinto trying to get into the safe. Jacinto then killed Santi, weighted him down, and threw him in the well to hide the body. Jaime saw the whole thing but was too afraid to say anything. Then the bomb fell, hitting the ground right in front of him, but not exploding.
Conchita, the oldest one left, decides to walk to town for help, but it’s a day or more away. She soon runs into Jacinto and his friends. He stabs her. They drive to the orphanage and see that Casares is still alive, so they turn around and head back. Right after that, Casares dies from his wounds.
Santi tells Carlos what he wants, “Jacinto.” He runs up to tell Jaime and finds that Jacinto has taken over. Locked in a room, the children work together to make weapons and get the window open as the adults work to try to get the safe open. Dr. Casare’s ghost opens the door to let the boys out.
There’s nothing in the safe, but Jacinto finds the gold in Carmen’s wooden leg. Then he finds that his friends have abandoned him; he doesn’t mind, as that means all the gold is his. He stuffs his pockets with many pounds of gold.
The children run in and taunt him; he chases them down to the basement, where the children ambush him. They stab him a few times and then push him into the water. All the gold drags him straight to the bottom, where Santi awaits.
The surviving children set off for the long walk back to town and Casare’s ghost watches them leave.
Commentary
This takes place in Spain, during the Franco takeover in the late 1930s, the same place and time period as “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006). This looks really good, as does “Pan,” but the history behind both films is a little hazy for me. Still, you can pick up what’s going on pretty easily.
The ghost isn’t the monster here, Jacinto is. It’s good!