X
- 2001
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 46 m
- 2001
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 46 m
Summary A ghost story set in a Catholic orphanage during the Spanish Civil War.
Directed By: Guillermo del Toro
Written By: Guillermo del Toro, Antonio Trashorras, David Muñoz
- 2001
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 46 m
- 2001
- R
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 1 h 46 m
The Devil's Backbone
78
7.5
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Summary A ghost story set in a Catholic orphanage during the Spanish Civil War.
Directed By: Guillermo del Toro
Written By: Guillermo del Toro, Antonio Trashorras, David Muñoz
Where to Watch
Coming Soon
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 30 Critic Reviews
78
97% Positive
29 Reviews
29 Reviews
3% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 30 Critic Reviews
78
97% Positive
29 Reviews
29 Reviews
3% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
What gives the story resonance is the tenderness and sacrifice and even innocence del Toro reveals amid the savagery.
Building slowly from a stately start, Del Toro manages to unite all his disparate elements - ghosts and gold, infidelity and politics - for a devastating final reel. The command of sound and colour is breathtaking.
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 99 User Ratings
7.5
86% Positive
85 Ratings
85 Ratings
7% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
7% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 99 User Ratings
7.5
86% Positive
85 Ratings
85 Ratings
7% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
7% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
Jun 21, 2014
Del Toro's brilliantly combined a humanist ghost story with ornament of history of wartime and politic allegory, makes "The Devil's Backbone" not only creepy and haunting, but also elegant, beautiful, and dramatic, This film is deserved become one of the best modern horror film ever made.
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Oct 28, 2018
¿Qué es un fantasma? Una historia de fantasmas narrada de un modo innovador, en un ambiente marcado por la guerra, en el que los personajes viven agobiados por carencias de todo tipo. Una de las trazarían el camino para El laberinto del fauno.
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Mr. del Toro provokes your screams and shudders, but he also earns your tears.
Is nothing if not exquisitely detailed: It's like a blood orange that del Toro spends the film seductively unpeeling, revealing layer upon layer of meaning and pathos.
A seductively corrosive horror story that also potently suggests the ways war can shatter childhood.
That The Devil's Backbone makes any sense at all -- with its many, swirling plotlines -- seems like a little wonder.
By Christopher Varney FULL REVIEW
Sep 3, 2017
A fascinating examination of youth during wartime, specifically a group of orphans during the final days of the Spanish Civil War. In classic Guillermo del Toro fashion, the movie is somewhat of a fairy tale, masquerading as a ghost story to dive deeper into the movie's rich themes. Gorgeously shot and wonderfully performed, The Devil's Backbone is a devastatingly beautiful film.
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Jan 30, 2012
So good. Not that scary but doesn't matter because is one of the greatest stories ever told. It has the greatest characters in a scary movie (more of a fable). Interesting in so many ways.
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Apr 19, 2022
Spain 1939: the Second World War shakes Europe but there is still a civil war in the country. Carlos, a young orphan, enters a sinister and atypical reformatory, directed by the sweet Carmen, by Doctor Casares (secretly in love with her) and by Jacinto, enigmatic and charming caretaker. Carlos immediately enters the sights of Jaime, a violent and evil companion, who never misses an opportunity to make his life hell. To further complicate matters are the apparitions of Santi, a pupil who mysteriously disappeared years earlier.
A really well executed child horror that I also prefer to Pan's Lambyrinth.
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Feb 17, 2022
Guillermo del Toro is right when it came to Hollywood's portrayal of kids in movies with "children as happy, brainless creatures that spout one-liners." The same goes to the tired praise of "the accurate portrayal" of kids who swear and make crude banter, because "omg that's what kids totally do and say". However, what I feel is missing from a lot of these movies is just how vulnerable and how unsafe it is to be a child. Where the chances of experiencing trauma and being ignored lies in certainty. And I think del Toro captured that effectively.
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Production Company
- El Deseo
- Tequila Gang
- Sogepaq
- Canal+ España
- Anhelo Producciones
Release Date Nov 21, 2001
Duration 1 h 46 m
Rating R
Tagline The living will always be more dangerous than the dead.
Awards
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
• 4 Nominations
Gérardmer Film Festival
• 3 Wins & 3 Nominations
Goya Awards
• 2 Nominations
