Mama (2013)

Guillermo del Toro presents *Mama*, a chilling supernatural thriller that plunges audiences into the haunting tale of two little girls, Victoria and Lilly. After disappearing into the woods the day their parents were killed, the girls are miraculously found years later, seemingly feral and traumatized. As they begin a new life with their uncle Lucas (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and his initially reluctant girlfriend Annabel (Jessica Chastain), it becomes terrifyingly clear that the spectral "mother" who looked after them in isolation isn't ready to let them go, still wanting to come tuck them in at night, even in their new home. While often classified purely as a horror film, *Mama* earns its place on a "Best Fantasy Movies" list by masterfully weaving its scares with a dark, modern fairy tale sensibility. The titular entity, Mama, is far more than a simple vengeful spirit; she is a fully realized, tragic, and powerfully supernatural being whose complex motivations and fantastical presence define a unique reality within the film. Her origins and the rules governing her existence push the narrative beyond conventional ghost stories into the realm of dark fantasy, where a magical, otherworldly force profoundly impacts the human characters' lives and explores themes of motherhood and attachment through a monstrous, yet surprisingly poignant, lens.