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The Devil's Backbone
The Devil's Backbone
7.4
/10
3,360 Ratings

THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE

El espinazo del diablo

Directed by Guillermo del Toro
Spain, Mexico, 2001
Thriller, History, Horror, Drama

Synopsis

In the last days of the Spanish Civil War, Carlos, whose Republican father was killed in battle, is left by his guardian at the Santa Lucia orphanage. The bleak building conceals not only the adults’ dissolute relationships, but also the ghost of a boy who seems bent on making contact with Carlos.

Synopsis

In the last days of the Spanish Civil War, Carlos, whose Republican father was killed in battle, is left by his guardian at the Santa Lucia orphanage. The bleak building conceals not only the adults’ dissolute relationships, but also the ghost of a boy who seems bent on making contact with Carlos.

Our take

Academy Award®-winner Guillermo del Toro’s precursor to his masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth is a chilling, fantastical ghost story rooted in the grim realities of the Spanish Civil War. It unfolds as a dark fantasy where anything is possible, and where del Toro’s visual inventiveness flowers.