The Shape of Water Review

     Every year there tends to be one film that has so much creativity and imagination to it that it will end up being inspiring to film lovers everywhere. A film comes out that’s incredibly original and refreshing but also treads on familiar grounds ever so slightly that it doesn’t feel foreign but instead feels both nostalgic and new at the same time. The Shape of Water is one of those movies, as it’s one of the most inventive and refreshing films to come out in the past year along with being a masterwork of film making.

     The film is about a mute woman named Elisa Esposito who feels unfulfilled in her life because she can’t do as much as the average person. Things take a turn as the facility she is working at ends up holding a strange humanoid fish creature in their building and she ends starting to build a relationship with this creature and thus a possible romance ensues. The story is a similar Beauty and the Beast type tale where a person falls in love with something that’s not human, but what separates this film from other stories of this sort is how subtle and down to earth it is. The film really takes its time to show this relationship and for something as outlandish as a woman falling in love with a fish man, it becomes one of the most romantic things seen all year. It also helps that The Shape of Water truly understand how this relationship affects these characters, showcase their insecurities but also help them grow as characters and all of this is accomplished through some very subtle writing, one moment in particular including Richard Jenkin’s character, that just might be one of the most subtle character realization ever put into a movie all year. It doesn’t spoon feed the audience anything or explain things to excruciating detail, it tells the story and let it unfolds so the audience can witness it on screen and because of that, it becomes one of the most investing movies all year.

     As mentioned earlier, the film has some excellent character moments and that is due to the fact the characters in this film are completely well realized and portrayed through some incredible acting. Sally Hawkins is amazing as Elisa, she may barely have anything to say but through her expressive body and facial language, she gives one of the most believable and likable performances of this year. Her character also benefits from being very sympathetic as she’s seen as an outsider and without saying a word; the film portrays this in a very relatable way, letting the audience witness all of her daily routines and her desire for more in her life. Elisa Esposito is one of the most well rounded characters in a movie in quite some time, and it’s the writing and performance of this original character that makes her such a unique and fascinating lead to watch. The rest of the cast also hold very well on their own, Richard Jenkins in particular might be one of the most subtle performance seen in this year. His character maybe more of a regular person than Elisa at first, but as the film progress and as mentioned through subtle ways, the film gives a great indication that he is no different to having this feeling of isolation from society as Elisa is. Jenkins plays this role flawlessly and with the help of some very subtle writing, makes this character just as engaging as the lead. Octavia Spencer does a great job providing the comedic relief and Doug Jones gives a very unique performance as the creature himself. The only possible downside to the acting is Michael Shannon as the film’s antagonist. Shannon does a great job with the material he is given, however out of all the characters in the film, he is the most over the top in the film, and while doesn’t diminish the quality of the film at all, there are moments were his performance can come across as a bit cartoonish. Other than that, the performance and character writing absolutely excels The Shape of Water as one of the best films of the year.

     The over-all writing and characters is fantastic but one could not ignore the beauty that is the Shape of Water on an aesthetic level. As to be expected with a Guillermo Del Toro film, the production design and special effects are all incredible to look at. The film gives a very classic Hollywood look and Del Toro’s direction pulls this off flawlessly. And also like Del Toro’s other work, the make-up effects are also incredible, making the main fish creature in the film look so realistic and believable to the world this film was in. The creature itself is a perfect combination of CGI and practical effects, making this one of the most visually appealing movie monsters in a while, especially considering that it’s not all CG like most creatures tend to be now a days in film. However, the beauty of this film doesn’t stop from the production and creature design, but also the cinematography and editing. The Shape of Water might be the best edited movie of this entire year alongside Baby Driver as every single transition from scene to scene is flawlessly executed and flows incredibly well to this stylized tale. As with the cinematography, every single shot in the film is done with such great care put into, it’s hard not to marvel at this film’s camera work. It might also have one of the absolute best ending shots of this entire year, summing up the film’s ending perfectly. Shape of Water excels not just a story film, but also as a visual marvel from beginning to end.

     Guillermo Del Toro not only made one of the very best films of 2017, but possibly the best film of his entire career. The Shape of Water is a masterpiece of art, that has everything a great film has to offer, an engaging story, complex and lovable characters, and visually flawless in execution. It’s one of the most original films to come out in a long time and it’s a movie that deserves to exist for everyone to see. It’s a work of art and quite frankly, there should be more movies like this, as it’s subtly and imagination is what all films should strive to be. Here’s hoping that Del Toro will continue to create original masterpieces like this.