Ivana Baquero
- 2009
Kevin Costner stars as a father that moves his pair of kids to an isolated farm only to find his daughter's changed behavior might have something to do with a burial ground near his property in Luis A. Berdejo's The New Daughter. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Costner, Ivana Baquero, (more)
Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro returns to the phantasmagorical cinema that defined such early fare as Cronos and The Devil's Backbone with this haunting fantasy-drama set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War and detailing the strange journeys of an imaginative young girl who may be the mythical princess of an underground kingdom. Her mother, Carmen (Ariadna Gil), recently remarried to sadistic army captain Vidal (Sergi López) and soon to bear the cruel military man's child, shy young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) is forced to entertain herself as her recently-formed family settles into their new home nestled deep in the Spanish countryside. As Ofelia's bed-ridden mother lies immobilized in anticipation of her forthcoming child and her high-ranking stepfather remains determined to fulfill the orders of General Francisco Franco to crush a nearby guerilla uprising, the young girl soon ventures into an elaborate stone labyrinth presided over by the mythical faun Pan (Doug Jones). Convinced by Pan that she is the lost princess of legend and that in order to return to her underground home she must complete a trio of life-threatening tasks, Ofelia sets out to reclaim her kingdom and return to her grieving father as Vidal's housekeeper Mercedes (Maribel Verdú) and doctor (Alex Angulo) plot secretly on the surface to keep the revolution alive. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ariadna Gil, Ivana Baquero, (more)
- 2006
Paco Plaza, the Spanish horror heavyweight behind such deeply disturbing frighteners as REC (with Jaume Balaguero) and Second Name, shows that the seeds of cruelty are more sinister when planed early in this tale of a desperate thief trapped in a well, and the children who go back on their promise to help her out. A group of children spending the holidays in a summer resort village are playing in the woods when they make a most unsettling discovery: A woman dressed in a Santa Claus outfit is trapped at the bottom of a very deep well. Upon approaching the local police for help, the kids discover that the stuck Santa is actually a dangerous thief who has recently disappeared following a daring heist. According to the cops she made off with a substantial amount of cash, a revelation that prompts the kids to go back to the well and begin bargaining in monetary terms. Should the thief give up her will give up the cash, say the kids, they will help her out of the well. It seemed like a straightforward plan, but once they had the cash in hand the kids find themselves reluctant to follow through on their end of the bargain - who's to say that she won't snatch the cash right back and kill them all once she gets free anyway? While they make the decision not to free the woman, they return to the well day after day to feed her and look after her. With each passing day the woman's forced captivity begins to more closely resemble torture, her body weakening due to a steady diet of children's food and her mind growing unhinged due to the grimness of her situation. Then, one day, the children return to find the well empty. Santa is coming for them, but this year instead of waiting by the chimney they'll be running for their lives. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maru Valdivielso
