After more than twenty years in the business, del Toro is still full of surprises

Rating: 8/10 (18 January 2018)

The Shape of Water is a fantasy film starring Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, and Octavia Spencer. Directed and co-written by Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth, Pacific Rim), it is an emotional story about friendship and a refreshing return to the fantasy genre from the veteran filmmaker.
In the early 1960s in Baltimore, Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins), a mute woman, works as a janitor at a top secret government laboratory run by Colonel Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon). One day, the lab receives a humanoid amphibian creature captured from a South American river. Over a period of time, Elisa forms a special bond with the creature and devises a plan to help it escape with her.
Visually stunning and poignant, The Shape of Water is exactly the type of film one would expect from Guillermo del Toro and shows that even after more than twenty years in the business, he is still full of surprises. Like Pan's Labyrinth, The Shape of Water feels like a fairy tale for adults, with its storybook-like tone and fantasy elements. The film is uniquely tailored to del Toro's style, as it likely would have been awkward and disturbing in the hands of any other filmmaker. Sally Hawkins was simply brilliant as the mute Elisa Esposito, considering she has no dialogue whatsoever and her acting is entirely visual. Michael Shannon was also great as Colonel Richard Strickland, a man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
I rate it 8/10