The Movie is Perfect -- I saw it twice-- once at the ArcLight in Hollywood

Rating: 10/10 (22 January 2018)

This movie is perfect. 10/10 --
This movie is the most beautiful love letter to the universal monster movies of my youth. Del Toro and I are about the same age and I, too, loved Creature from the Black Lagoon. That's why I so looked forward to this movie--it's a kind of sequel to that creature film and all the black and white movies I still enjoy watching. It's so beautifully done.
The movie begins under water and it ends under water. And in between the first scene and the last scene, a beautiful fairy tale unfolds. There are so many lovely details that are included in the movie and the attention to detail is incredible. The color palette and symbolism in the movie are sublime.
This movie is essentially and lovingly about "the other." This aspect unfolds in many ways--Eliza is a woman who cannot speak and must rely on others to communicate for her...her neighbor and friend who is gay and more than likely loses his job over this fact and her coworker who is African American. In the 1960's, when the movie takes place, all of these people would have been considered to be "other." Just as the creature is "other," so are the primary players in the movie. Eliza's voice is heard through people who would more than likely not have had a voice during that time.
Some reviewers have balked at the movie's inclusion of beastiality--but this is just preposterous. If you watch carefully, you are revealed small clues throughout the movie that reveal Eliza's true identity as being the same species as the creature. Just because you don't look like the creature, doesn't mean you aren't "half" creature. Throughout the movie, clues are given that point to the fact the she is from the water and she loves water: she was found in the water as a baby, she cooks her food in water, she plays and controls the rain droplets on the window of the bus and she even breathes under water at the end of the movie. Her scars resemble gills...
People who give this movie a bad review are angry, small minded, frustrated people with no imagination or love in their hearts or the history of movies.