Ranking What Was Really The Best Film Of Every Year 1990-2021
16. 2006 - Pan's Labyrinth
Actually won: The Departed.
It hurts to say that Martin Scorsese didn't have the best film of 2006, since The Departed gave him his first Best Director and Picture statues, but it's the honest truth. It faced stiff competition from Babel and Little Miss Sunshine, but the real Best Picture of the year wasn't nominated.
Pan's Labyrinth, the towering magnum opus from visionary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, wasn't to the Academy's taste, and so missed out on major award attention despite being one of the finest fantasy movies ever made.
A hauntingly beautiful, poetic depiction of life in war, as well as a harrowing horror and stunningly realised fairy tale with flawless effects, Pan's Labyrinth is undeniably a masterpiece, and one that should've secured del Toro heaps of accolades.