Set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, The Devil's Backbone is director Guillermo Del Toro's best and most personal film. The action takes place in an orphanage in a remote part of Spain, where, in the courtyard, is an un-exploded bomb, a reminder of the looming danger present. That's true of both the context of Backbone, and the main narrative, which is part war commentary, part straight-up ghost story. Blessed with Del Toro's indelible visual style, The Devil's backbone is an emotionally shattering experience but also a frightening one, and it's possible to watch it as a straight horror without the lingering context. That would be to your detriment, though, the film undoubtedly working best when the supernatural mirrors the real horror, the war doing as much damage to the childrens' psyche as the ghosts that haunt the orphanage. And all the while there's the bomb in the courtyard, that harrowing motif of Man's capacity for destruction.
