Spain’s entry for the foreign-language Oscar is spooky, fast-paced, and shot in just the right creepy grays and grimy whites. Produced by Guillermo Del Toro, of Pan’s Labyrinth fame, it has youthful, jumper-clad apparitions, fun riddles, and subtle acting (particularly by haunting cherub Fernando Cayo, who’s all eyelashes and trembling lips until things get hairy). But, alas, there’s no Ahhhh! moment at the end to justify the mounting tension.
Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona
Warner Bros. R.