Best Movies like Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

The Devil's Backbone, directed by Guillermo del Toro like Pan's Labyrinth, also unfolds in post–civil war Spain and follows a young child navigating a world where the supernatural intertwines with the trauma and violence of a wartime environment.

Spain, 1939. In the last days of the Spanish Civil War, the young Carlos arrives at the Santa Lucía orphanage, where he will make friends and enemies as he follows the quiet footsteps of a mysterious presence eager for revenge. The Devil's Backbone is a movie from Spain in Spanish, with a total 1h 48m runtime, released in 2001 with an average rating of 7.3 by 1,383 people. The movie made an estimated total of $6,582,065 in the box office.

Coraline centers on a young girl who discovers a hidden, fantastical world filled with eerie challenges, echoing the theme of a child escaping a harsh reality through encounters with surreal and sometimes perilous magical beings.

Wandering her rambling old house in her boring new town, 11-year-old Coraline discovers a hidden door to a strangely idealized version of her life. In order to stay in the fantasy, she must make a frighteningly real sacrifice. Coraline is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 40m runtime, released in 2009 with an average rating of 7.9 by 9,223 people. The movie made an estimated total of $185,860,104 in the box office.

A Monster Calls features a young protagonist confronting personal loss and emotional turmoil by interacting with a mysterious and otherworldly creature, mirroring the blend of fantasy and real-world hardship that defines Pan's Labyrinth.

12-year-old Conor encounters an ancient tree monster who proceeds to help him cope with his mother's terminal illness and being bullied in school. A Monster Calls is a movie from Spain in English, with a total 1h 48m runtime, released in 2016 with an average rating of 7.3 by 3,604 people. The movie made an estimated total of $47,309,313 in the box office.

The Fall intertwines reality with the imagination of a child, blending elements of drama and fantasy as a young girl is drawn into a visually rich, storybook quest shaped by her relationships and vulnerabilities.

In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm, a fantastic story about 5 mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, the line between fiction and reality starts to blur as the tale advances. The Fall is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 57m runtime, released in 2006 with an average rating of 7.6 by 1,577 people. The movie made an estimated total of $3,984,390 in the box office.

Tideland explores a child's perspective amid troubling circumstances, relying on a blend of fantasy and bleak reality to interpret her surroundings, much like the way Pan's Labyrinth uses magical elements to reflect on difficult themes.

Because of the actions of her irresponsible parents, a young girl is left alone on a decrepit country estate and survives inside her fantastic imagination. Tideland is a movie from United Kingdom in English, with a total 2h 0m runtime, released in 2005 with an average rating of 6.5 by 629 people. The movie made an estimated total of $566,611 in the box office.

Come and See, set during wartime, captures the harrowing experiences of a child amid conflict, offering a stark look at innocence confronted by brutality, which aligns with the wartime setting and coming-of-age struggles found in Pan's Labyrinth.

The invasion of a village in Belarus by German forces sends young Florya into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Florya finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope. Come and See is a movie from Soviet Union in Russian, with a total 2h 22m runtime, released in 1985 with an average rating of 8.2 by 1,894 people. The movie made an estimated total of $20,929,648 in the box office.

MirrorMask follows a young girl entering a surreal, maze-like world while grappling with family challenges, blending striking fantastical visuals with a journey of self-discovery akin to the magical and emotional landscape of Pan's Labyrinth.

In a fantasy world of opposing kingdoms, a 15-year old girl must find the fabled MirrorMask in order to save the kingdom and get home. MirrorMask is a movie from United Kingdom in English, with a total 1h 41m runtime, released in 2005 with an average rating of 6.4 by 370 people. The movie made an estimated total of $973,613 in the box office.

The City of Lost Children centers on young characters navigating a darkly imaginative world ruled by sinister adults, combining elements of fantasy and peril, and sharing a visual inventiveness reminiscent of Pan's Labyrinth.

A scientist in a surrealist society kidnaps children to steal their dreams, hoping that they slow his aging process. The City of Lost Children is a movie from France in French, with a total 1h 52m runtime, released in 1995 with an average rating of 7.2 by 1,235 people. The movie made an estimated total of $1,738,611 in the box office.

The Spirit of the Beehive is set in post–civil war Spain and is told through the eyes of a young girl whose world blurs the lines between reality and fantasy, mirroring the way Pan's Labyrinth uses a child's viewpoint to explore profound themes.

In 1940, in the immediate aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, a young girl living on the Castilian plain is haunted after attending a screening of James Whale's 1931 film Frankenstein and hearing from her sister that the monster is not dead, instead existing as a spirit inhabiting a nearby barn. The Spirit of the Beehive is a movie from Spain in Spanish, with a total 1h 38m runtime, released in 1973 with an average rating of 7.7 by 401 people.

The Secret Garden opens up a magical, hidden world to a young protagonist coping with loss and personal change, paralleling the emotional journey and transformative power of fantasy found in Pan's Labyrinth.

A young British girl born and reared in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's castle. Her uncle is very distant due to the loss of his wife ten years before. Neglected once again, she begins exploring the estate and discovers a garden that has been locked and forgotten. Aided by one of the servants' boys, she begins restoring the garden, and eventually discovers some other secrets of the manor. The Secret Garden is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 41m runtime, released in 1993 with an average rating of 7.4 by 988 people. The movie made an estimated total of $40,000,000 in the box office.

The Others follows a family in a historical, isolated setting haunted by supernatural forces, with themes of uncertainty and the blurring of reality, paralleling the atmospheric tension and eerie undertones of Pan's Labyrinth.

Grace is a woman who lives in an old house kept dark because her two children, Anne and Nicholas, have a rare sensitivity to light. When the family begins to suspect the house is haunted, Grace fights to protect her children at any cost in the face of strange events and disturbing visions. The Others is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 41m runtime, released in 2001 with an average rating of 7.6 by 7,320 people. The movie made an estimated total of $210,002,906 in the box office.

Beasts of the Southern Wild features a young girl facing a tumultuous world, blending imaginative elements and harsh realities to tell a story of resilience and childhood amid adversity, much like the journey in Pan's Labyrinth.

Hushpuppy, an intrepid six-year-old girl, lives with her father, Wink, in 'the Bathtub', a southern Delta community at the edge of the world. Wink’s tough love prepares her for the unraveling of the universe—for a time when he’s no longer there to protect her. When Wink contracts a mysterious illness, nature flies out of whack—temperatures rise and the ice caps melt, unleashing an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs. With the waters rising, the aurochs coming, and Wink’s health fading, Hushpuppy goes in search of her lost mother. Beasts of the Southern Wild is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 33m runtime, released in 2012 with an average rating of 6.8 by 1,161 people. The movie made an estimated total of $21,107,746 in the box office.

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders presents a coming-of-age story infused with surrealism as a girl navigates fantastical situations that challenge her understanding of her world, echoing the intersection of childhood innocence and otherworldly danger seen in Pan's Labyrinth.

Valerie, a Czechoslovakian teenager living with her grandmother, is blossoming into womanhood, but that transformation proves secondary to the effects she experiences when she puts on a pair of magic earrings. Now seeing the world around her in a different light, Valerie must endure her sexual awakening while attempting to discern reality from fantasy as she encounters lecherous priest Gracian, a vampire-like stranger and otherworldly carnival folk. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders is a movie from Czechoslovakia in Czech, with a total 1h 13m runtime, released in 1970 with an average rating of 6.9 by 311 people.

Labyrinth offers a fantasy adventure where a young protagonist traverses a dangerous, magical maze in search of a lost family member, rooting its narrative in the blending of real and fantastical challenges as in Pan's Labyrinth.

Frustrated with babysitting on yet another weekend night, Sarah, a teenager with an active imagination, summons the Goblins to take her baby stepbrother away. When little Toby actually disappears, Sarah must follow him into a fantastical world to rescue him from the Goblin King. Guarding his castle is the labyrinth itself, a twisted maze of deception, populated with outrageous characters and unknown dangers. Labyrinth is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 41m runtime, released in 1986 with an average rating of 7.3 by 2,802 people. The movie made an estimated total of $12,729,917 in the box office.

Grave of the Fireflies focuses on children's perspectives during wartime, exploring their struggle for survival and loss of innocence; this emotional journey through a war-torn landscape shares much with the setting and themes of Pan's Labyrinth.

In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive. Grave of the Fireflies is a movie from Japan in Japanese, with a total 1h 29m runtime, released in 1988 with an average rating of 8.4 by 6,653 people. The movie made an estimated total of $842,132 in the box office.

Time Bandits revolves around a young child escaping an unsatisfying reality through fantastical adventures, merging imaginative escapism with sharp social commentary, similar to the way Pan's Labyrinth merges fantasy with historical context.

Young history buff Kevin can scarcely believe it when six dwarfs emerge from his closet one night. Former employees of the Supreme Being, they've purloined a map charting all of the holes in the fabric of time and are using it to steal treasures from different historical eras. Taking Kevin with them, they variously drop in on Napoleon, Robin Hood and King Agamemnon before the Supreme Being catches up with them. Time Bandits is a movie from United Kingdom in English, with a total 1h 56m runtime, released in 1981 with an average rating of 6.6 by 1,175 people. The movie made an estimated total of $42,365,581 in the box office.

Nobody Knows portrays the struggles of children abandoned to survive on their own, highlighting a journey from innocence to maturity under harsh circumstances, akin to the emotional and thematic challenges seen in Pan's Labyrinth.

In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning. Nobody Knows is a movie from Japan in Japanese, with a total 2h 21m runtime, released in 2004 with an average rating of 8.0 by 661 people.

The Book Thief depicts a child's experience growing up during the turbulence of war, focusing on personal growth and the power of storytelling amidst conflict, which resonates with the wartime setting and narrative focus on a young protagonist in Pan's Labyrinth.

While subjected to the horrors of WWII Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. Under the stairs in her home, a Jewish refugee is being sheltered by her adoptive parents. The Book Thief is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 2h 11m runtime, released in 2013 with an average rating of 7.5 by 4,558 people. The movie made an estimated total of $76,586,316 in the box office.

My Neighbor Totoro features a young girl exploring mysterious creatures and magical spaces to cope with upheaval in her family life, intertwining fantastical elements with childhood perspective as seen in Pan's Labyrinth.

Two sisters move to the country with their father in order to be closer to their hospitalized mother, and discover the surrounding trees are inhabited by Totoros, magical spirits of the forest. When the youngest runs away from home, the older sister seeks help from the spirits to find her. My Neighbor Totoro is a movie from Japan in Japanese, with a total 1h 26m runtime, released in 1988 with an average rating of 8.1 by 8,950 people. The movie made an estimated total of $41,000,000 in the box office.

The Lovely Bones follows a young protagonist who, after a traumatic event, exists between worlds and interacts with both real and supernatural elements, drawing on similar themes of innocence, peril, and the interplay of fantasy and reality.

After being brutally murdered, 14-year-old Susie Salmon watches from heaven over her grief-stricken family -- and her killer. As she observes their daily lives, she must balance her thirst for revenge with her desire for her family to heal. The Lovely Bones is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 2h 16m runtime, released in 2009 with an average rating of 7.1 by 5,022 people. The movie made an estimated total of $93,600,000 in the box office.

Where the Wild Things Are centers on a child's adventure into a world ruled by fantastical beings as a response to emotional turmoil, paralleling how Pan's Labyrinth uses magical experiences to reflect a child's inner life and struggles.

Max imagines running away from his mom and sailing to a far-off land where large talking beasts—Ira, Carol, Douglas, the Bull, Judith and Alexander—crown him as their king, play rumpus, build forts and discover secret hideaways. Where the Wild Things Are is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 41m runtime, released in 2009 with an average rating of 6.5 by 2,042 people. The movie made an estimated total of $100,140,916 in the box office.

Let the Right One In places its focus on childhood isolation and companionship amid danger, with a young protagonist drawn into a mysterious relationship, paralleling the themes of vulnerability and darkness in Pan's Labyrinth.

When Oskar, a sensitive, bullied 12-year-old boy, meets his new neighbor, the mysterious and moody Eli, they strike up a friendship. Initially reserved with each other, Oskar and Eli slowly form a close bond, but it soon becomes apparent that she is no ordinary young girl. Let the Right One In is a movie from Sweden in Swedish, with a total 1h 55m runtime, released in 2008 with an average rating of 7.5 by 3,321 people. The movie made an estimated total of $10,785,801 in the box office.

Song of the Sea brings together folklore and a child’s transformative journey against a backdrop of loss, using magical realism to explore family and emotional resilience, a storytelling blend similar to Pan's Labyrinth.

The story of the last Seal Child’s journey home. After their mother’s disappearance, Ben and Saoirse are sent to live with Granny in the city. When they resolve to return to their home by the sea, their journey becomes a race against time as they are drawn into a world Ben knows only from his mother’s folktales. But this is no bedtime story; these fairy folk have been in our world far too long. It soon becomes clear to Ben that Saoirse is the key to their survival. Song of the Sea is a movie from Ireland in English, with a total 1h 34m runtime, released in 2014 with an average rating of 8.0 by 1,604 people. The movie made an estimated total of $857,522 in the box office.

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya is rooted in folklore and tells of a girl's mysterious identity and transformation, melding fantastical narrative with emotional depth, which resonates with the fairy-tale elements and quest for belonging in Pan's Labyrinth.

Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthrals all who encounter her. But, ultimately, she must confront her fate. The Tale of The Princess Kaguya is a movie from Japan in Japanese, with a total 2h 17m runtime, released in 2013 with an average rating of 8.1 by 2,020 people. The movie made an estimated total of $24,366,656 in the box office.

Bridge to Terabithia explores the power of imagination as two children create an elaborate fantasy world to process their real-life hardships, echoing Pan's Labyrinth’s intertwining of emotionally charged reality with magical escapism.

Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school. So he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences including that she's rich, he's poor, she's a city girl, and he's a country boy the two become fast friends. Together they create Terabithia, a land of monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants where they rule as king and queen. Bridge to Terabithia is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 35m runtime, released in 2007 with an average rating of 7.3 by 5,387 people. The movie made an estimated total of $137,587,063 in the box office.

The Innocents follows a protagonist who encounters ghostly presences while questioning her perceptions, with themes of innocence and psychological uncertainty that mirror the uneasy blend of reality and the supernatural in Pan's Labyrinth.

In a mid-19th century Essex country house, a young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted by ghosts and that the children are being possessed. The Innocents is a movie from United Kingdom in English, with a total 1h 40m runtime, released in 1961 with an average rating of 7.5 by 682 people. The movie made an estimated total of $1,200,000 in the box office.

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane focuses on a young girl fending for herself amid threatening adults, emphasizing self-reliance and the loss of innocence in a hostile environment, which aligns with the source's depiction of childhood resilience.

13-year-old Rynn Jacobs lives in a New England beach town. Whenever the landlady inquires after Rynn's father, she claims that he's not available. But when the landlady's son, Frank, won't leave Rynn alone, she teams up with a neighbor Mario to maintain the dark family secret that she's been keeping to herself. The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane is a movie from Canada in English, with a total 1h 31m runtime, released in 1976 with an average rating of 7.0 by 358 people.

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey traces children on a perilous journey that fuses history with fantastical elements, using a young point of view and blending myth with real danger, reminiscent of how Pan's Labyrinth situates fantasy within a historical crisis.

Cumberland, 1348. The plague is spreading in medieval England. The remote village of little Griffin is also threatened. But the 9-year-old boy has a recurring dream that holds the key to a tiny hope of survival: a lake with a coffin floating on it. A white church with an iron cross. A falling glove. A falling silhouette. A torch tumble through a dark shaft into infinity. With his brother he recognizes in it a prophecy to escape the Black Death. So they embark with a few men on a journey to a distant cathedral, where they want to set up an iron cross as an offering to God. Her path leads them through a deep and dark mine shaft into an unknown land and completely outlandish time - into the present-day New Zealand of the 1980s. The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey is a movie from New Zealand in English, with a total 1h 32m runtime, released in 1988 with an average rating of 6.2 by 91 people.

Away with Words takes viewers into a protagonist's surreal mental landscapes to explore memory and emotional dislocation, employing an unconventional narrative style that intertwines subjective reality and dreamlike imagery as in Pan's Labyrinth.

A Japanese man and a gay bar-owner in Hong Kong drink beer as they talk about their childhood and experiences. Away with Words is a movie from Singapore in English, with a total 1h 30m runtime, released in 1999 with an average rating of 6.4 by 15 people.

Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari draws on folkloric storytelling and magical realism to depict women's lives through interconnected tales, sharing with Pan's Labyrinth a structural and thematic reliance on myth and the fantastical amid everyday struggles.

This is a collection of portraits: 23 short stories about the Mari women, a sort of Decameron suspended between magic and realism, in which the Autonomous Republic of the Marij El serves as a backdrop for the collective history of a people of ancient tradition. A journey into a mysterious and unknown part of the world. Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari is a movie from Russia in Russian, with a total 1h 46m runtime, released in 2013 with an average rating of 5.5 by 22 people.

Goodnight Mommy centers on children grappling with uncertainty and fear within their home, focusing on perception, identity, and ambiguous threats, which mirrors the sense of danger and loss of innocence driving the narrative of Pan's Labyrinth.

In the heat of the summer lays a lonesome house in the countryside where nine year old twin brothers await their mother’s return. When she comes home, bandaged after cosmetic surgery, nothing is like before and the children start to doubt whether this woman is actually who she says she is. Goodnight Mommy is a movie from Austria in German, with a total 1h 40m runtime, released in 2015 with an average rating of 6.7 by 1,723 people. The movie made an estimated total of $2,193,474 in the box office.

Picnic at Hanging Rock places young characters in a historical setting marked by mysterious disappearances and an air of unreality, probing the boundaries between the mundane and the otherworldly in a manner reminiscent of Pan's Labyrinth.

In the early 1900s, Miranda attends a girls boarding school in Australia. One Valentine's Day, the school's typically strict headmistress treats the girls to a picnic field trip to an unusual but scenic volcanic formation called Hanging Rock. Despite rules against it, Miranda and several other girls venture off. It's not until the end of the day that the faculty realizes the girls and one of the teachers have disappeared mysteriously. Picnic at Hanging Rock is a movie from Australia in English, with a total 1h 47m runtime, released in 1975 with an average rating of 7.2 by 900 people. The movie made an estimated total of $5,125,000 in the box office.

Little Otik employs dark fairy-tale elements and the perspective of a child to explore bizarre and unsettling events, sharing with Pan's Labyrinth a narrative that fuses innocence with eerie, fantastical occurrences.

When a childless couple learn that they cannot have children, it causes great distress. To ease his wife's pain, the man finds a piece of root in the backyard and chops it and varnishes it into the shape of a child. However the woman takes the root as her baby and starts to pretend that it is real. Little Otik is a movie from Czech Republic in Czech, with a total 2h 11m runtime, released in 2001 with an average rating of 7.0 by 153 people. The movie made an estimated total of $116,710 in the box office.

The Company of Wolves uses fairy-tale structure and coming-of-age motifs, merging dreamlike visuals with lessons on innocence and danger, in a way that reflects Pan's Labyrinth's approach to mixing fantasy and dark themes through a young protagonist.

An adaptation of Angela Carter's fairy tales. Young Rosaleen dreams of a village in the dark woods, where Granny tells her cautionary tales in which innocent maidens are tempted by wolves who are hairy on the inside. As Rosaleen grows into womanhood, will the wolves come for her too? The Company of Wolves is a movie from United Kingdom in English, with a total 1h 35m runtime, released in 1984 with an average rating of 6.3 by 388 people. The movie made an estimated total of $4,389,334 in the box office.

The Night of the Hunter features children escaping a malevolent authority figure amid a storybook-like landscape, combining a child's perspective with visual storytelling that blends menace and myth, reminiscent of Pan's Labyrinth.

In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money. The Night of the Hunter is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 33m runtime, released in 1955 with an average rating of 7.9 by 1,865 people.

El Sur explores childhood memory and longing, set in Spain and seen through a young protagonist’s eyes; this reflective narrative structure mirrors Pan's Labyrinth’s focus on a child’s experience shaped by familial and historical context.

A woman recalls her childhood growing up in the North of Spain, focusing on her relationship with her father. El Sur is a movie from Spain in Spanish, with a total 1h 34m runtime, released in 1983 with an average rating of 7.7 by 154 people.