10 Movies That Start At The End

8. Pan's Labyrinth

Guillermo Del Toro's morbid yet visually stunning fairy-tale, set amongst the ashes of the Spanish Civil War and the rise of the Francoist regime, tells the story of a young girl named Ofelia, enamoured by a mythical faun and his position as guardian over a nearby abandoned labyrinth.

The Start The first shot we see is of a dying Ofelia, struggling for breath, with blood streaming down her face; a haunting (and rather tone-setting) opening shot you might say, especially as Ofelia is just eleven years old at the time. The story is then told in the form of a flashback following the tasks that Ofelia undertakes to prove to the mysterious faun that she is worthy to reign over his magical world, whilst her vicious stepfather and his army fight back at the republican insurgents rebelling against the new regime.

The End In the breath-taking conclusion to the film, Ofelia, clutching her new-born stepsister, runs from her gun wielding stepfather into the depths of the labyrinth. When she reaches the centre she is met by the faun, who requires the blood of her innocent stepsister to open the door to the underworld. She refuses and is shot by her stepfather. As the blood drips from her face and into the opening to the underworld, she is seen as the queen of her kingdom, proving that her last task was a trick to ensure she would rather her own life is taken than the life of an innocent.