A good film about belief and faith.

Almost as good as Del Toro's other horror, The Devil's Backbone. A very similar film and a must see for those who like this film.

That being said, it's not too scary. But even if it doesn't work as a horror (for me anyway), it does work as a mystery/psychological thriller. But it does succeeds in being a very good film about faith and belief. The plotting is actually very clever when you look back at it.


The filmmakers were speaking through the psychic when she said "seeing is not believing. Believe and you will see" And everything could be explained by the supernatural as it could equally be explained by ordinary events. In other words, it's up to the viewer to decide what they want to believe: You can see what's on the screen and believe the supernatural and about everything that happens at face value. Or you can believe that what's shown is in the imagination of a grieving mother:


You could easily argue that Simon overheard the conversation of him being adopted and having HIV. His explorations and discovery of Tomas' room and the name labeled drawings explained why he was able to know Tomas'name.
The doorknob game was not caused by the children but caused by Simon before his death. (He pushed his mom's platter of food because she wouldn't play his final game).
The sound was explained by Simon being trapped in the room.
Laura was under a state of stress when seeing the child in the cave.
And she had taken multiple pills before being able to see the children when playing hide-and-seek. And again with the pills and close to death at the Peter Pan ending.
The crashing glass was coincidence and the psychic was a hoax.


I loved how the psychic said to Laura that those who are close to death are more receptive to these messages. Laura believed it was about Simon's disease, but it was equally about her. She began to see the supernatural because of her subconscious awareness of Simon's death.

The support group said that they have all seen lost loved ones some time after their deaths as a way of telling them to move on. Laura sees her childhood friends and son, all whom she had lost.

And finally, Carlos sees his wife after he loses her, much like the rest of the support group. But even that is left to interpretation. The viewer has no idea if his wife appears. The only thing certain is that Carlos is at peace with her death. Both Laura and Carlos each represent the dichotomy of the sacred and profane, belief and non-belief. Laura sees the supernatural in events while Carlos sees the logical. In the end, it's possible that Carlos choose to let himself believe the necklace is a sign. The necklace representing faith.