Of the two movies I saw during my recent Connecticut trip, Pan's Labyrinth was definitely the better of the two. Set in Franco's Spain, it's a very dark fantasy mixed with even darker reality. The young girl finds it a struggle to come to terms with her mother's marriage after her father's death, especially given her mother's choice of a fascist captain. Whether you believe the girl creates the fantasy world as an escape from her controlling father-to-be (yeah, that seems like the obvious choice to me) or that there really is a magical kingdom waiting for her return, the cinematic flourishes of the fantasy world are incredibly compelling.
While this seems like a children's movie - it reminds me a little of the colors seen in the recent Mirrormask - it's awfully grim in its tone and message. The resolution of the movie has the "good guys" winning (well, in a manner of speaking; historically, you know they're screwed), I think mostly to soften the story a bit. It's very much worth watching, and probably more than once, since the attention to detail is so pronounced. It may not be good for the kids, though.
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