Pan's Labyrinth is unashamedly a fantasy yarn, but freighted with enough political subtext and visceral human cruelty to transcend the genre's geekboy reputation. Admittedly some of Ofelia's ...

"Ofelia’s odyssey is all for the sake of reaching a place beyond death." Shade Bannigan Davis questions how humans chase the myth of immortality in 'Pan's Labyrinth' (2006).

During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks.

Ofelia is uprooted to a rural military outpost in Fascist-ruled Spain commanded by her stepfather. Powerless and lonely, she lives out her own dark fable as she confronts monsters both otherworldly ...