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Guillermo del Toro movies in order

Thirteen films, and in almost every one the monster is the sympathetic character.

Updated 6 August 2026 · 13 titles tracked

Only Hellboy and its sequel connect. Everything else stands alone, so order is free — but the filmography divides into two streams that feel like different directors, and it is worth knowing which one you are entering.

The Spanish-language films (Cronos, The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth) are personal, political and quiet. The English-language ones are larger, and half of them are studio commissions. Both are him. The Spanish-language ones are where the control is.

Del Toro films, in a suggested starting order

An entry path rather than release order. Toggle on the filmography page.

  1. 1Pan's Labyrinth2006 · Major work
  2. 2The Shape of Water2017 · Major work
  3. 3The Devil's Backbone2001 · Major work
  4. 4Hellboy2004 · Major work
  5. 5Crimson Peak2015
  6. 6Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio2022 · Major work
  7. 7Frankenstein2025 · Major work
  8. 8Cronos1993 · Major work
  9. 9Pacific Rim2013
  10. 10Hellboy II: The Golden Army2008 · Major work
  11. 11Nightmare Alley2021
  12. 12Blade II2002
  13. 13Mimic1997
Open the full Guillermo del Toro filmography

Start with Pan's Labyrinth

A fairy tale running alongside real fascist violence in 1944 Spain, with neither one softening the other. It is the fullest version of everything he does, and it is the film that made him internationally famous.

Then The Shape of Water (2017), which won Best Picture and Best Director, or The Devil's Backbone (2001), which he has called Pan's Labyrinth's brother — the same war, the same interest in children who understand more than the adults around them.

The monsters he designed himself

Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) are the comic-book films that are most obviously his rather than a studio's — Ron Perlman under four hours of prosthetics, and a Troll Market sequence that justifies the whole exercise.

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022) is stop-motion, set under Mussolini, and about a father who cannot let go. It won the animation Oscar and is one of the best things he has made.

Frankenstein (2025) is the film he spent roughly thirty years trying to get financed.

The commissions

Mimic (1997) was taken away from him in post-production and he has said so consistently ever since. Blade II (2002) is a studio vampire sequel he made stranger than it needed to be. Pacific Rim (2013) is giant robots against giant monsters with no irony at all.

None are essential. Pacific Rim is the most fun of the three.

The two that were mis-sold

Crimson Peak (2015) was marketed as a horror film and is a gothic romance. Audiences went in expecting the wrong thing and it never recovered.

Nightmare Alley (2021) is the only film he has made with no supernatural element whatsoever — a carnival noir, and much colder than his reputation suggests.

Common questions

What order should I watch Guillermo del Toro movies in?

Any order — only the two Hellboy films connect. Start with Pan's Labyrinth, then The Shape of Water, The Devil's Backbone, Hellboy and Pinocchio.

Which Guillermo del Toro film should I watch first?

Pan's Labyrinth. It is the clearest statement of what he does — a fairy tale and a fascist occupation, with neither one used as a metaphor for the other.

How many films has Guillermo del Toro directed?

Thirteen features, from Cronos (1993) to Frankenstein (2025).

Do I need to watch Hellboy before Hellboy II?

Yes. The Golden Army continues directly from the first film and assumes you know the characters. They are the only two of his films that connect.