The Devil's Backbone (2001) on Netflix
Spain, 1939. Carlos is left at a remote orphanage run by Dr. Casares and Carmen, where he hears a whisper warning that many of the boys will die.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb7.3/1076,201 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes92%
Trailer
Plot summary
Spain, 1939, near the end of the Civil War. Carlos, whose father was killed in combat, is brought to a remote orphanage run by the widowed Carmen and Dr. Casares. Jacinto, the caretaker, is harsh with the boys, but Carlos makes friends and, on his first night, is dared to fetch water from the kitchen after curfew. There a voice whispers that many of them will die. The boys talk of Santi, who disappeared the night the bomb in the courtyard fell. When Carlos goes looking, he meets a pale figure with a wound on his head. Frightened, he runs back inside, and later finds Santi's name in a friend's sketchbook.
Cast
- Daniel Esparzaas Marcos
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Devil's Backbone (2001)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Guillermo del Toro wrote the first draft of The Devil's Backbone before his debut film Cronos (1993); that version was set in the Mexican Revolution and focused not on a child's ghost but on a "Christ with three arms".
- Fernando Tielve originally auditioned as an extra before Guillermo del Toro decided to cast him as the orphan Carlos, the lead; The Devil's Backbone was his film debut.
- Guillermo del Toro wrote a full biography of the villain Jacinto, covering Jacinto's parents and what they did in life, and gave it to Eduardo Noriega, the actor playing him.
