--- title: "Pan's Labyrinth: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/pans-labyrinth/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/pans-labyrinth" critics_score: 81 critics_reviews: 10 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Pan's Labyrinth (2006): what the critics said Critics' score 81 from 10 reviews: 8 positive, 2 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are warm, and most are more than warm. Critics agree that del Toro has set a fairy tale down in the Spain of 1944 and made both halves darker for the contact. The praise clusters on the fantasy: the creature designs, the detail of the world beneath the labyrinth, the look of the film as a whole. Sergi López’s captain is singled out, and several critics note that the monsters below are there to echo the brutality above rather than to decorate it. The reservations are about the join. The Guardian finds the political, overground half far less alive than the dreamscape beneath it, and misses any real narrative drive. Slant goes further, calling the split between reality and fantasy almost pathological and the characters thin. Time Out, writing years later, admires the design but finds the storytelling disjointed. The spread is moderate: nobody dislikes it, but the two mixed notices come from serious quarters and share the same complaint. ## Empire — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 27 October 2006. Del Toro has delivered his masterpiece to date, a companion piece to The Devil's Backbone that entwines fairy-tale fantasy with war-movie horror to startling effect. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/pan-labyrinth-review/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Ray Bennett Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 27 May 2006. Festival review. The critic praises del Toro’s engrossing fable that weaves a young girl's fantastical tasks with the brutal reality of Franco's Spain, highlighting the mesmerizing visuals and strong performances, especially Sergi López as the villainous captain. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/pans-labyrinth-review-2006-movie-2-1070658/) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 24 November 2006. A dark and majestic piece of fantasy that dissects the horror of fascism under the guise of a fairy-tale flick; it will likely stand as one of the year's best films. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/pans-labyrinth-review/) ## Time Out Rating 4/5. 9 April 2020. The critic describes the film as an unusual, adult take on a familiar fairy-tale archetype, unsuitable for children due to its graphic violence and lessons about the limits of fantasy against repression. Del Toro excels as a filmmaker with grotesque, detailed fantasy designs and cinematic references, though the story form and execution feel somewhat disjointed. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/es/cine/el-laberinto-del-fauno) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 6 September 2006. The review notes the film's clean split between reality and fantasy as almost pathological, criticizing insufficient dramatization of relationships and cardboard characters, but praises the wondrous fantasy sequences and spiritual center. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/pans-labyrinth/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 24 November 2006. The critic finds the film's political dimension less successful than its fantasy elements, with asymmetric energies between the historical surface world and the energetic subterranean dreamscape. He praises the extraordinary monster designs and visual images but notes a lack of overall narrative drive. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/nov/24/sciencefictionandfantasy.worldcinema) ## The Skinny — Colan Mehaffey Rating ★★★★★. 12 November 2006. The critic praises del Toro for seamlessly blending art-house fantasy with political drama in this tale of a young girl escaping brutal reality through a mythological realm. The effective cinematography and how the fantastical elements reinforce the political message are highlighted as strengths. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/pans-labyrinth) ## Collider — Matt Goldberg Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 12 October 2015. The critic views Pan's Labyrinth as one of del Toro's most complete and acclaimed works, a labor of love that blends dark fairy tale with the brutality of the Spanish Civil War. He singles out the film's exploration of duality between the real world and the fantastical, where imagination offers refuge even amid cruelty and death. [Read the review](https://collider.com/the-films-of-guillermo-del-toro-pans-labyrinth/) ## /Film — Kayleigh Donaldson Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 21 January 2022. The piece celebrates the film as del Toro's greatest and most deliciously characteristic work, a masterpiece that blends fairy tales and reality with profound impact, catapulting the director's career while earning major awards and acclaim for its emotional resonance and stylistic vision. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/740661/15-years-on-pans-labyrinth-is-still-guillermo-del-toros-masterpiece/) ## Eye for Film — Jennie Kermode Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 21 November 2006. The critic praises the film's elegant visuals and classic fairy-tale elements blended with harsh reality, highlighting strong performances and its exploration of imagination as a defense against brutality. They note some weaknesses in the fantasy creatures' execution but conclude it is very much worth watching despite its intensity. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/pans-labyrinth-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/pans-labyrinth.md