Del Toro's movies are often more about people than events, and this one is no exception. During the Spanish civil war, we join Carlos, an orphan, as he is left at a boys orphanage. The orphanage is low on funds, although it has gold it cannot use until after the war, and is home to an unexploded (supposedly disarmed) bomb in the center of its courtyard, and possibly the ghost of a boy who vanished the day the bomb fell.
At times I was reminded of week 120's "Come and See" - although this was more to do with the mostly young cast, backdrop of war, slower pace, and wonderful cinematography than the story itself, or even the tone of the story; which is far less brutal here.
There's a bit of an odd mix going on; the story itself sets up something big, that never pays off (a chekhov's gun, if you will, which is never fired in the third act) and the supernatural elements of the story are almost redundant - every part of the film would have worked just as well without them.
After much setup, one of the characters turns out to be a sociopath which given the movie a much needed jolt into its third act, and the movies climax offers an incredibly brutal scene, in an otherwise fairly non-violent drama.
I didn't hate this weeks movie, but I'm not sure I enjoyed it. It was beautifully made, and technically excellent, but I found myself more enthralled than entertained. So much so, that I can't, not-recommend it... as art, if not as entertainment.
You need to change some bits.
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