The Shape of Water review: Sea creature romance

Guillermo del Toro’s latest fantasy adventure combines the tale of The Creature from the Black Lagoon with the romantic charm of Beauty and the Beast to create a unique tale of love: The Shape of Water.

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When first predicting the potential Oscar frontrunners at around the halfway point in the year, not many were counting on Guillermo Del Toro’s newest project, The Shape of Water, to be in serious contention. Del Toro’s latest films haven’t exactly caught on with audiences, with films such as Pacific Rim and Crimson Peak being fairly underwhelming entries in his filmography. It seemed as though Del Toro was a long ways away from his glory days with Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth. But, thanks to the help of such talent as Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer, Doug Jones, Alexandre Desplat, Dan Laustsen and company, The Shape of Water is looking to be one of Del Toro’s most acclaimed films to date.

Guillermo Del Toro’s fascination with the fantasy world and blending it with our reality continues in this fairy tale depiction of the 1960s, complete with a mysterious and fascinating fish-human hybrid, who serves as the backbone to this oddball tale of love. Arguably the only film possibly capable enough of beating out other Oscar frontrunner, Call Me by Your Name, in the Best Picture category, The Shape of Water is riding a massive hype train in the midst of Oscar season. But just how well-founded is the hype?

Photo Credit: The Shape of Water/Fox Searchlight Pictures. © 2017 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation Image Acquired from EPK.tv

No Bounds

The Shape of Water presents itself as a unique hybrid between fantasy and reality, as is the case with most films by Guillermo Del Toro. Even the opening scene of a house completely submerged underwater gives a magical feel towards the story, letting the audience know what kind of tone to expect throughout the film. The film follows Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins), a mute woman who lives alone in a small apartment, going about her daily life in working as a janitor at a government facility with her co-worker, Zelda (Octavia Spencer). Zelda, along with her neighbor, Giles (Richard Jenkins), are her only real friends, until a mysterious humanoid fish creature (Doug Jones) is brought into the facility. Forming a bond with him, Elisa takes it upon herself to save the creature, no matter the cost.

Del Toro’s strange love story is certainly something that can understandably turn off some people. It’s, quite frankly, a pretty ridiculous premise with enough of a magical feel for it to feel as though it’s some kind of oddball romance fairy tale. That’s very much what The Shape of Water aims to be and in doing so, succeeds expectations. Del Toro’s story not only tells a timely story of prejudice in the 1960s, but also a timeless story about the boundaries of love being boldly broken in the face of adversity. Cheesy you say? Yes, the film has its moments of cheese and fully embraces them, even if they don’t always work (specifically in the crescendo of the third act). It’s not perfect in terms of its screenplay, with there being cheesy moments and an unfortunate abundance of subplots that seem a bit more distracting from the more interesting story with Elisa and the Fishman, but the style and presentation of the film balances out the negative qualities of the film quite well in hindsight.

He Sees Me As I Am

The Shape of Water not only stands out as a magical story of love from Guillermo Del Toro, but as a wonderful acting showcase for everybody involved, main and supporting roles. The supporting roles establish a tone of playfulness and sweetness (for the most part), starting with Octavia Spencer as the quick-witted and talkative friend/translator for Elisa., Zelda. Zelda is most often seen venting about her everyday struggles to Elisa, using her charm to bring life and depth to Zelda, making her an absolute joy to watch. Same goes for Richard Jenkins as Giles, the lovable and friendly neighbor to Elisa, who spends his time creating art and trying to find love in his own way. It’s their mutual loneliness that bring Elisa and Giles so close as friends and every scene involving them felt like something out a charming sitcom. It occasionally conflicted with the tone of the story, but either way, it was so much fun to watch their friendship develop, with Richard Jenkins giving one of his best performances to date.

On the opposite end of sweet, we have the slimy antagonist, Colonel Strickland, the head of the facility played by Michael Shannon. Fascinated by the creature and hellbent on using it as a leg up against the Russians, Strickland very much embodies the cold-blooded nature of the racism and misogyny that plagued 1960s America. A self-entitled man’s man of sorts, Strickland is slimy, predatory, downright terrifying, all of which Shannon conveys effectively through dialogue and even a certain scowl in the eyes. Though the character himself is unfortunately somewhat underwritten and overly cheesy in certain moments, Michael Shannon commits to the character, bringing a terrifying human to life onscreen for the world to fear.

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The main reason for this film’s hype, apart from its wild story and the return of Guillermo Del Toro, is the performance of The Shape of Water‘s leading lady, Sally Hawkins, who portrays the mute protagonist and fishman’s love interest. The hype is well-earned, with Sally Hawkins giving a career-best performance without hardly saying a word. She’s so convincing in her role as Elisa and portrays her character with both strength and vulnerability. Elisa is a lonely woman, but in no way does the film look down on her for her loneliness, portraying her as a woman out-of-place in her environment, much like the fishman is out-of-place in the human world. Hawkins transforms herself into this memorable character and is very much the standout in Del Toro’s fantasy love story of the 60s.

“If I Told You About Her…”

Beyond the screenplay and acting, The Shape of Water benefits from its visual presentation and atmosphere, almost always bending the nature of the reality with magical beauty and a fairy tale sense of presentation. Alexandre Desplat’s enchanting score sets the atmosphere in motion, bringing about a sophisticated and elegant tone to compliment the equally sophisticated (if not sometimes incredibly graphic) story. Another Oscar nomination and win for Desplat seems likely for the immediate future and that’s not to say it’s undeserving. If anything, Desplat’s score give the film its beautiful and eloquent personality, feeling very much like an additional character in the film.

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Beyond Alexandre Desplat’s score, the visuals get an upgrade, thanks to the work of Director of Photography, Dan Laustsen, who’s crystal clear and intimate cinematography brings a level of both beauty and realism, understanding the nature of mis-en-scene to a tee. Whether it be the manipulation of lighting to match the sinister tones of the scenes with Strickland or the FANTASTIC dinner scene in the third act, Laustsen’s work truly brings The Shape of Water to life as a beautifully made romance fantasy dramedy.

“…What Would I Say?”

Some people may not appreciate the cheesy nature of the film, along with its abundance of conveniences and subplots, but make no mistake about it: The Shape of Water is, without a doubt, Guillermo Del Toro’s best film since Pan’s Labyrinth. The Mexican legend is back in full force with this epic tale of romance, horror, quirky comedy and drama. This film has all you can ask for in a Guillermo Del Toro film: immense creativity, wonderful visual effects, powerful acting and an overall love for the fantasy world. Del Toro is at his best when creating something magical that can be tied to our own reality and he does it again with The Shape of Water.

Next: Call Me by Your Name official film review

It’ll be interesting to see how the Oscars and general public will react to such a film. It’s cheesy in moments, the fantasy element can seem like a bit too much to take seriously and the romance will flat-out gross some people out. The friend that I saw this film with was particularly caught off-guard by the romance aspect of the film, so this may need a reading of the plot synopsis before experiencing it yourself. Despite its weird content, The Shape of Water is beautiful in every sense of the word and though it’s not perfect, the film is one romance film that I would suggest taking your spouse on a movie date to.

Just read the synopsis first.

Final Verdict: 8/10

The Shape of Water is available in limited-release theaters right now.

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