I don't think they should have shown her dying after she enters the special kingdom; rather, it should have cut straight from the shot of her there to black, and then to the tree reblooming. I think it takes away from the mysticism of her quest (essentially confirming that all she went through was her imagination, and that it can't possibly be real). A little childish, perhaps, but I think the film would've benefited from it.

I don't know, I think that would have taken away from the poignancy of it all. It's absolutely heartbreaking, and goodness knows I wanted it all to be real and for her to live, but it's better the way it is.

Actually when I saw that bit I interpreted it as her physical earth body dying (because that is mortal) whilst her soul returns to the other world. Because remember at the beginning they say that the princess' 'soul' would be born again in some way and return, I took that to mean that her physical form or appearance was negligible as it was her soul that needed to return. And the bit where she is talking to the creature, but the man doesn't see it, could of been simply because he doesn't believe in such things, I wouldn't imagine him to of thought of her as anything other than an 'insane evil' little girl considering how quickly he killed her, so he perceived what he wanted.

So I think it could still go either way.

However it can also be interpreted as just her imagination. Especially as she always had to be alone for most of the things that happened, like the book etc. I was just giving an idea of how it could still be interpreted the other way.

IF all was part of her imagination, how can she foretold the blood coming from her mom?.

And also, the mandrake plant, I know it could have been any root she found there, but...why did her mother got better? Coincidence? It was not the medicine that the doctor gave her, since the doctor said that it was a miracle when he was talking to the Captain. And the Captain saw the fricking plant too =/

Even though there are contradictions about being real or not, i personally think it was real. Those "To see them, you have to believe Peter Pan!!!" kinda real.

Since the beggining of the movie it was kinda funny how "Alice in Wonderland" always came to my mind. I was really impressed when Ofelia shows up with the dress that her mom gave her which looks pretty much the same Alice had.

There wasn't really a point where I thought it wasn't real actually. It was only after looking in the thread here that I reconsidered. So I pretty much agree with you there Dizzy, and those are really good points. I think the root may of been just something she found but it seems too big of a coincidence, especially when she throws it in the fire and her mother returns back to the bleeding state she had been in not long before the Mandrake root had been placed under her bed. The Captain could probably see the root since Mandrake roots are real things, but he and her mother would of just seen it as a plain (oddly shaped) root and not of been able to see it as alive. Although her mother was in excruciating pain I imagine she might of at least glanced at the root in the fire since it was screaming pretty loudly and writhing as it burned. So she, like the Captain probably couldn't see such things. Its brought up a couple of times in the film, that whole idea of grown-ups losing their belief in fantasy, and thats the whole topic of that Peter Pan spin-off film Hook so I definitely agree with it seeming like a Peter Pan fairy belief thing

I believe the only part of the mystical underworld aspect of the movie that was a part of her imagination was how she took a seat on the throne by the king's side, and more importantly, the whole thing that tells you something's terribly wrong with this happy ending, her mother's side. Her human mother's side. To me, that showed her dying dreams. The underworld scorned her for not spilling her brother's blood, just like she was told would happen.

It's nothing definitive, but to me, it was a tragic ending.

Saw this without actually having read anything about it. I was pretty disappointed that the fantasy aspect of it wasn't really a huge factor. But it was still a good watch.

I was also disappointed that it sort of led you to doubt the validity of the fantasy world. Like she was just using it as a sort of escapism technique to avoid dealing with reality (the part where she was talking to her brother in the womb about taking him away with her and making him a prince). However, as the other's have stated, there were coincidences throughout that could not be ignored.

That hand-eye monster thing was pretty bad ass. I thought she ate the grapes on purpose to give him a reason to move instead of just sit there and waste money. Wasn't until a friend pointed out that that was after she was sent to bed with no dinner.

The one where the Other Mother presents the buttons to her.