An alternative fairytale

Rating: 8/10 (19 September 2018)

The Shape of Water looks and sounds amazing: the cinematography with it's vibrant colour palette, the superb production and costume designs, the atmospheric score...they're just perfect. The intelligence of the film is on constant display aswell as the film is a strong love letter to literature and film ("fairytale for grownups" idea, kafkaesque feel, references to film history...). There's some gore and sex, there's historical accuracy mixed with an alternative reality - all in all it's an interesting blend of things. It's also rare for me to feel such empathy towards a character that this film made me feel.
After all of the above, it feels borderline criminal to award The Shape of Water "only" four out of five stars. While there's a lot of almost perfection here, I would've liked the film to be less predictable and amp up the thrills a bit. It felt too calculated. Having said that, for me it's a well deserving best picture winner and I could see my rating go up on a rewatch. At the moment I have Pan's Labyrinth a bit higher of the two celebrated del Toro fairytales.