Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio 2022

In Italy, set against the backdrop of the Great War, we follow Geppetto, a carpenter who is forever changed after losing his beloved son, Carlo, to a tragic bombing incident. In his grief, he plants a pine cone near Carlo’s grave and spends the next two decades engulfed in sorrow. Within the pine tree that grows from this cone resides an anthropomorphic cricket named Sebastian. In a moment of drunken rage, Geppetto decides to cut down the tree to carve a new son from its wood but passes out before he can finish the puppet. It is then that a mystical Wood Sprite, voiced by Tilda Swinton, breathes life into the unfinished puppet, naming him Pinocchio.

As fate would have it, the Wood Sprite meets Sebastian and makes him a promise; in exchange for guiding Pinocchio, she will help him achieve fame. When Geppetto discovers that Pinocchio is alive, he locks him in a closet, intending to keep him safe while attending church. However, Pinocchio disobeys, wandering into the village and startling the townsfolk. The next morning, Geppetto sends Pinocchio to school, but he is intercepted by the cunning former aristocrat-turned-showman, Count Volpe, and his mischievous performing monkey, Spazzatura. Volpe entices Pinocchio to join his circus, pushing him to sign a contract.

Chaos ensues when Geppetto comes to retrieve Pinocchio, leading to a tug-of-war with Volpe that results in Pinocchio getting hit by a passing car. In a bizarre twist, Pinocchio finds himself in the afterlife, where he meets Death, the sister of the Wood Sprite. She reveals that he is immortal and will return to the land of the living only when an hourglass has fully emptied, warning him that with each return, his time in the afterlife will grow longer.

Determined to support Geppetto and evade enlistment by the ruthless Podestà, Pinocchio once again joins Volpe’s circus. During one performance, he delivers a humorous parody aimed at Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, leading to his shooting and subsequent death. Revived again, Pinocchio is taken to a training camp where young boys, under the watchful eye of the Podestà, prepare for war. There he befriends the Podestà’s son, Candlewick, a boy burdened by the fear of failing his father. Advised by Pinocchio, Candlewick stands up to the Podestà, but tragedy strikes when the camp is bombed, resulting in the Podestà’s demise.

Fleeing from the chaos, Pinocchio is captured once more by Volpe, who seeks revenge for the earlier humiliation. However, Spazzatura intervenes during their confrontation, sending Volpe over a cliff where he meets his end. The adventure continues as Pinocchio and Spazzatura are swallowed by the feared Dogfish, reuniting with Geppetto and Sebastian. To escape, Pinocchio expands his nose by lying, using it to create a bridge out of the Dogfish’s blowhole. In a final act of bravery, he detonates a naval mine to save his friends.

Upon reuniting with Death, Pinocchio requests to be sent back to save Geppetto from drowning, fully aware that this choice will lead to his own demise. After heroically rescuing Geppetto, Pinocchio dies once more, prompting Sebastian to use his wish to bring him back. Yet, as foretold by Death, Pinocchio ultimately outlives all those dear to him, witnessing the deaths of Geppetto, Sebastian, and Spazzatura. With a heavy heart, Pinocchio embarks on a journey into the unknown, seeking new adventures until his own time runs out.