The horrors of a fairy tale are juxtaposed with those of the real world in Guillermo del Toro’s frighteningly beautiful “Pan’s Labyrinth.”

Set in Spain at the height of World War II, the film centers around a 12-year-old girl named Ofelia and the treacherous Captain Vidal. While Ofelia is the epitome of a sweet and innocent child, Vidal is no less than the very avatar of evil.

The monstrosities of war reflected off of these two characters provide a brilliant lens into the dichotomy between those who preach for war, and those who must suffer the consequences.

Ofelia and her mother travel to the countryside to live on the farm of Vidal, a fascist general hell-bent on quelling the uprising in his nation. It is here that the young girl discovers a gateway into a world far different than our own.

The guardian of this world is Pan, an enigmatic faun that plays the role of the white rabbit to Ofelia’s Alice. His cat-and-mouse games with the young girl lead her into harrowing situations, each more horrific than the last. The evils that she encounters along the way are brilliantly paralleled with those committed by Vidal in the real world.

The film visually highlights the chasms between peace and war and life and death. The vibrant colors of the forest as Ofelia walks carefree collide with the harsh tones of brutal battles.

In one of the most terrifying scenes in recent memory, Ofelia encounters a creature named “The Pale Man.” From makeup and lighting to music and camera movement, this tense segment proves to be the most visceral scene of the year.

This scene is so good, that it brings forth my main complaint in the film. While the scenes of war-torn Spain are very interesting, it’s the moments inside Ofelia’s fantasy world that make this film great. With only about a quarter of the film devoted to this beautiful, dreamlike land, it is disappointing that the audience spends so little time in this rich and compelling fantasy world that del Toro created.

“Pan’s Labyrinth” resides in a world where dreams and reality blur into one. Because of this, it remains unclear whether the fantastical visions Ofelia experiences are real or simply manifestations of her imagination.

Fortunately, this ambiguity does nothing to deter from the overwhelming pleasure that comes from viewing this film.

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