The Shape of Water

The Shape of Water is a 2017 award-winning fantasy film directed by Guillermo del Toro and starring Sally Hawkins (Mrs. Brown in the recent Paddington movies), Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones as the amphibian man, David Hewlett (best known as Dr. Rodney McKay in the several Stargate TV series), Michael Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spencer. Recognizing actors from other works we've enjoyed is always fun. This is yet another one of those movies we meant to see in the theater. I'm not sure how it is we so rarely go out to see films, but there it is. We bought it the day it was released and watched it the next day. A wonderful film! There's sweetness and romance and deep friendships and cruelty and sacrifice and tragic loss... and I'd think it'd be a hard movie not to like. The director was inspired by the old monster movie Creature from the Black Lagoon, which has always been one of my favorites.

trailer:

The New York Times calls it "altogether wonderful". The BBC calls it "an intelligent, tender, beautifully shot, meticulously crafted work of art" and "an affecting and affectionate film". The New Yorker has a positive review.

The Guardian gives it 5 out of 5 stars and concludes,

The genius of Del Toro’s creation is that we know exactly how much Elisa cares for her soulmate and how he makes silent sense of her fish-out-of-water feelings. Watching them dance around each other, I became aware of the shape of my own tears, swept along by the emotional waves of Del Toro’s sparkling drama, succumbing to its seductively melancholy song of the sea.

Empire Online gives it 5 out of 5 stars and says, "Watch it and it’s magical; fantastic in all senses." Rotten Tomatoes has a critics score of 92%.