The Shape of Water - Film Review

 The Shape of Water is written and directed by Guillermo del Toro and it’s a fantasy drama film about the romance between Elisa, a mute cleaning lady for a secret government laboratory, and a mysterious scaled creature with gills being held captive there. As their connection deepens Elisa begins to realise that her new friend is being mistreated by his captors and that his very life is in danger! With the fate of this creatures life in her hands she must figure out a way to keep him safe and protect him from the government agent seeking to destroy him. I’d heard a lot of great things going into this and well it did not disappoint!   

This was an extremely well made movie and I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish, I love the premise, I love the characters and I liked the pacing quite a bit, nothing ever felt like it was dragging and sufficient time is spent developing the characters and the world. The cinematography looked fantastic, visually it’s a very good looking film so I’s hard to find any flaws in that regard. It’s also extremely well written with believable dialogue and very likeable characters, I thought we got a good sense of them all and there’s a subtlety to the romance that worked really well, it never felt forced or silly, it’s very emotional and very touching.

These are my favourite kind of love stories, there’s depth to these characters and there’s depth to their relationship, it’s very effective and completely unconventional which gives it even more impact. It’s a feeling, it’s a connection between two beings that goes beyond normal conventions. The story takes place in the early sixties and highlights the racism and sexism of the time which only emphasises even more how unacceptable this relationship would be considered by, well, by the cunts that populate this world. There’s an innocence to the film, a purity in the characters that was very touching and I was emotionally invested in them, I understood them, I cared about them and I was invested in their story.   

The Shape of Water has a great cast, Sally Hawkins was perfect as Elisa and, unlike the twat in Marvel’s Inhumans who also played a mute and felt the need to emphasise every single fucking facial expression with wide eyes and harsh head turns to make up for it, she did a great job. She did a fantastic job actually given that she doesn’t speak at all, it’s always clear where she is emotionally. Richard Jenkins was great as Giles, Octavia Spencer was great as Zelda and I really liked Michael Stuhlbarg as Dr. Robert. Michael Shannon’s been a favourite since he played Nelson in Boardwalk Empire and I loved his performance here too, he’s a great villain! 

There’s nothing quite like The Shape of Water, it’s extremely unique and I would 100% recommend it to everyone, it’s an experience that you won’t find anywhere else and it’s something I can see a lot of people connecting with. It’s well written with great characters and a gripping storyline, it’s very well directed with warm cinematography that felt personal and lived in and I loved all of the performances this was a great cast! It’s strange, it’s beautiful and it’s heartfelt, I was entertained all the way through and I loved the tone. I’m gonna give The Shape of Water 8.7/10. Thank you for reading, until next time Steemians!

What's your favourite love story?