One of the weirdest movies that I ever saw (but this is not a bad thing)

Rating: 9/10 (4 March 2018)

Ok, The Shape of Water definitely isn't a movie for the big public, it's incredibly weird (as almost every Del Toro movie), and unusual, but at the same time it can pass a beautiful and complex message about love.
Before talking about the movie as a whole, I need to point some fantastic aspects of it. The acting is very good, Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer (as you may already know) shine in the movie, and their nominations are undoubtably deserved, but Michael Shannon also shows again that he is a freaking monster, he once again destroys in the role. I really think that he deserved at least a Oscar nomination here (probably more than Richard Jenkins, that is also very good, but not as good as Shannon).
The cinematography and the photography is gorgeous, Del Toro shows us once again that he is one of the most unique directors working today, the guy has a style, and it shines here.
Talking about that, Del Toro direction is freaking amazing too, everything is beautiful, the actors are shining, the guy will probably won the Oscar tonight, and it will be deserved.
And, of course, the overall message of the movie, the prejudice, the feeling that some have, that they are alone in the world, how hard it is for some people to find love, and how painful it is for those who end up never finding. And is really fantastic how Del Toro is able to talk about such subjects with a movie about a big fish monster that make love with a woman.
Really, think about it, what were the odds of this end up been just a creepy and laughable movie? The concept sounds extremely cheesy but the final result is fantastic.
All the visual effects also are fantastic, and the movie does not had a big budget, so, is another achievement here.
Probably the only issue that I can have with the movie is that in some point it seems like it's going to end without a climax, but it kinda "forces" somethings to happen, in order to have a "big finally confront", you know, it doesn't make the movie less great, but was what prevented the movie to be a 10/10 to me. I think that they also could have given more time to the build of the relationship between the Fish and Elisa, overall you buy it, but it feels a little bit rushy.
Well, in short, The Shape of Water is a great piece of work by Guillermo Del Toro, has a beautiful and powerful message, that is told in a unique and odd way. Another great movie from the 2018 Oscar's, right now I saw 7/9 from the Best Picture Nominees, and just one was under the 8/10 grade.