If you’re not following Mike Flanagan on Letterboxd, you really should be. Recently, the famed horror director has logged Black Bag, Drop, Mickey 17, and Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar. The man not only has taste, but a pretty diverse palate as well. And honestly, it’s pretty cool to see what one of your favorite filmmakers is watching in real-time. Drop? Haha, I saw that.
While Mike Flanagan doesn’t review every movie he logs (who has the time, especially with Carrie on the way??), when he does, it’s always worth the read. He’s a big fan of Lake Mungo and Kurosawa’s Pulse, a personal favorite of mine. While he principally logs horror movies, he’s just as keen on genre-adjacent fare, including Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-winning Pinocchio, now streaming on Netflix.
Per Netflix: During the rise of fascism in Mussolini’s Italy, a wooden boy brought magically to life struggles to live up to his father’s expectations.
Pinocchio has always been a horror story. It’s a lot like Cinderella in that way, or any of the fairy tales we all know and love. While Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio doesn’t go quite as hard as something like Emilie Blichfeldt’s The Ugly Stepsister, it’s pretty frightening in its own way. Like most of del Toro’s filmography, the setting is firmly a fascist hellscape, and the Pinocchio mythos takes on new life amidst the gnawing tragedy of interwar Italy. Directors Guillermo del Toro and the late Mark Gustafson truly outdid themselves here.
Mike Flanagan’s review of the film is brief yet astute. On Letterboxd, he simply wrote, “Absolutely gorgeous.” And, yeah, Pinocchio is. The animation team, including ShadowMachine and The Jim Henson Company, outdid themselves, and del Toro has been vocal about his insistence that the ornate details match what would otherwise be present in his live-action filmography. Collectively, Pinocchio is a gothic tour-de-force, and one absolutely worth seeking out. It’ll break your heart while reaffirming your faith in cinema as a whole. I’m still not entirely recovered.
Father, when can I leave to be on my oOOwn and watch Pinocchio again? Right now on Netflix! If you choose to check the film out on either my rec or Mike Flanagan’s, let me know over on Twitter @Chadiscollins. Additionally, stay tuned to Dread Central for the latest news on Flanagan’s Carrie and del Toro’s Frankenstein, the latter of which is set to premiere this year.
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