Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Mexican auteur Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) brings his distinctive style to this wondrous stop-motion adaptation of Carlo Collodi's timeless fable. Ingeniously transposing the story to Benito Mussolini's fascist Italy in the 1930s, the film sees anguished woodcarver Geppetto (voiced by David Bradley) crafting the titular puppet (Gregory Mann) following a tragic incident. Ewan McGregor turns in a delightful performance as the talking cricket who serves as narrator. The animation is stunning, especially in the sequences where the director leans into the source novel's surrealism, while Alexandre Desplat's atmospheric score is spellbinding. Del Toro has spoken at length about Pinocchio's influence on his life and career, and this intricate film is a clear passion project made with love and care. With sensitivity and heart, it explores grief, war, and the question of what it truly means to be human.