I couldn't find a reason to rate it 9.

Rating: 10/10 (15 May 2019)

After watching this movie, I couldn't resist myself from falling in love with Guillermo del Toro's direction and screenplay skills. I feel contrite about not knowing this man and his movies before this one. About the story, it weaves an unusual romance and thriller between a mute girl, Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins) and Amphibian Man, called the 'asset', a creature from the water. (Doug Jones) Elisa works as a cleaner at a secret government laboratory along with Zelda Delilah (Octavia Spencer), a co-worker and a friend who's also shown as her interpreter. Elisa lives next door to Giles. (Richard Jenkins) Giles is a struggling artist. Giles and Zelda are the only people Elisa has in her life. The movie is set in Baltimore, in '62. The story progresses as one day a creature, the asset is brought in the laboratory under the custody of Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon), a US Colonel who thinks of this creature as an affront to God. Dr. Hoffstetler (Michael Stuhlbarg) is considered in the laboratory to study this creature. He along with Zelda and Giles helps Elisa who has by now fallen in love with this creature, to take asset out from the laboratory as Strickland wants to vivisect this creature instead of giving time to the Dr. to study it. She keeps asset with her and decides to leave it in the canal when rains begin. A night before, Strickland knows about it and starts searching for Elisa. Zelda warns her about it and thus she runs away with asset near the canal and they both jump into the water while the narrator shows their perplexed happily ever after. About characters, Elisa was an overhanging character. One character that I can never forget. She is portrayed as a mute and an orphan girl. She finds herself incomplete. That's the reason she starts finding love in the asset when she looks at it for the first time. After that, she starts bringing him eggs and plays music for him. When she comes to know about Strickland trying to harm asset, she makes a plan with Giles to take it with her. She keeps it in the bath-tub and visits her often. Toro then shows their intimacy where the movie gears up. Giles, as a character is a resentful oldman, but a great friend and Elisa's confidant. The movie also has an element of humor, when Zelda talks about her husband or when Giles and Elisa watch TV in his appartment. Strickman, on the other hand is a very intense character and an arrogant Colonel. After Elisa, he is the second best character written. All the characters, no matter how minor, were well written and better executed. Toro's par excellence directing skills and Sally's acting that transcends beyond voice is something that makes this movie stand out of the usual Hollywood boxes. Doug Jones's glare aptly justifies the most striking dialogue of the movie- 'When he looks at me, he doesn't know I am incomplete. He sees me as I am.' Doug hadn't much to do than make sublime eye contacts which he did profusely well. The movie will surely bring back some memories of 'The Beauty and The Beast' and 'King Kong', but trust me, this movie is a lot more than what you think it is. You can watch all the Elisa-Asset scenes a trillion times and still fall in love with them again and again. This is the kind of movie that remains with you for the rest of your life. This movie is just magic and romance beyond all norms.