A needed Gem in a Time of hate and rage

Rating: 8/10 (9 March 2018)

This movie is unusual, odd and queer. I wouldn't come out ld with such an atypical story in a million year, and that's what makes it alluring the fact that it takes you by surprise, that you don't know what to expect. Add to it, it's aesthetically pleasing to the senses and the mind, del Toro's directing is very dynamic and this vintage halo around the movie makes it feels like a mix of Wes Anderson and Spielberg, fused with Amilie and vintage Parisien aesthetics mainly through the music to give this genre-defying romance. Besides, the story is remarkably touching too it's a reflection on loneliness as every characte suffer from it on his own terms from Elisa who's craving for love and being understood, to her friends Zelda who's living with a man who doesn't appreciate nor respect her and Jiles, an old gay guy who mourns not living his younger days fully and truly and afraid it's too late to find someone at his age, plus there is Strickland the antagonist, a depressed ex-soldier bored of his plastic life with a billboard plastic family and professor dimitri who's left out by the bothsides he's working for. They all keep living their monotonous routines until this aquatic God comes and changes it, as he represents closure and release, leading the characters to either find love, find confidence, stand up for themselves or simply find peace in death. The other thing that touched me the most is the love story between Elisa and the Creature as it defies words and norms only relying on feelings and touch, showing us that love is unconventional and universal and count on del Toro to deliver this beautiful message in a beautifully twisted way.