Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a visionary masterpiece and the most meaningful adaptation of the story yet. It’s hard not to appreciate the stop motion animation alone, but the magically enamoring screenplay by Guillermo del Toro, Patrick McHale, Gris Grimley, and Matthew Robbins plays a colossal role as well. The story feels fresh in this version, heartwarming and haunting simultaneously as it takes viewers through the darker trenches of grief in order to showcase healing.
Pinocchio, in general, is a dark story, but more often than not, as the darkness is dimmed and the story tries to bring itself to life, it fails to communicate what it truly means to gain something worthwhile in the end. However, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio focuses intently on this darkness as it brights the necessary barrels while guiding its audience through grief and loss masterfully. There’s a light in this adaptation that examines desolation through a nuanced look into what it means to find a purpose. Is it being a caretaker? A writer? A performer? What lengths are people willing to go through to find a light at the end of their lives to make every moment of it worth it? The film carefully answers each question it poses through subtle, meticulous decision-making that never once takes the magic out of the story.