a different romance in an unaccepting world

Rating: 10/10 (11 June 2018)

Dark fantasy has been a common motif in Guillermo del Toro's movies: "Cronos", "Mimic", "The Devil's Backbone" and "Pan's Labyrinth" are the obvious examples. He continues this with the "The Shape of Water". At heart, 2017's Best Picture winner is about how people want to get accepted for who they are. The main human characters are a deaf woman (Sally Hawkins), a gay man (Richard Jenkins of "Six Feet Under" fame), and a black woman (Octavia Spencer), all representing demographics barely acknowledged in 1962 (the movie's setting). By contrast, the "normal" person (Michael Shannon in one of his many heavy-duty roles) puts on a facade of respectability, hiding his brutality. No surprise that Elisa can only find a soulmate in the amphibian man (Doug Jones, not to be confused with the Alabama senator).
All in all, this is an impressive movie, not that I would expect less from del Toro. The dark-colored settings contrast sharply with the lighthearted comedies and musicals that Elisa watches on TV. I haven't seen every Best Picture nominee, but I'd say that this was a good choice nevertheless. I recommend it.
Mister Ed. One has to wonder why Wilbur cared about a horse when he had such a hot wife in Carol.