Impeccably produced and acted

Rating: 8/10 (3 February 2018)

Guillermo del Toro is a master at the fantasy-romance genre and this one fits right in, despite the fact that it's put in an almost obsessively realistic 1960's period setting. In fact, it's halfway like a fairy tale (think: the Frog Prince). It's impeccably crafted and impeccably acted by a cast that's first rate from top to bottom. Sally Hawkins as the lead actress, the mute Elisa who works as a janitor in the secret research facility, is excellent but I think it's not fair to single her out at the expense of the others: Octavia Spencer, Richard Jenkins, Michael Shannon, and of course Doug Jones as the "creature" all get lots of screen time and are all totally convincing.
Another feature of the progress of the story that I liked was that the Amphibian Man -- which (check it out) is practically a double for the Creature From the Black Lagoon -- is revealed in his full form almost right from the start. The point, clearly, is not to score cheap horror points off his appearance, but to move right on to Elisa's unexplained fascination with him and their growing relationship.
The fairy-tale ending is both satisfying and yet oddly tragic. The main thing that keeps me from rating this unique film higher is, in a way, its greatest strength: It's pure, self contained storytelling with no links (or at least none that seem intentional) to anything outside itself. It's an absorbing world while we're in it, though.