The Shape of Water

Movie, 2017, R

Premise – A lonely, mute cleaning lady falls in love with an anthropomorphic sea creature hidden at the laboratory she works at. While the US and Russian governments fight over who gets to study him, the woman attempts to break him out.

Review – My first thought upon finishing the film was a giant “I don’t know how I feel.” Sure, I liked it, but I wasn’t sure if I should like it. So much of the movie feels wrong, but you enjoy it anyways. Maybe that’s the point. If you love something, don’t think too hard to criticize it. That’s definitely how our protagonist feels. She loves the amphibian man, even if he’s bestial, even if it goes against nature. She sees a humanity in him, and she embraces her feelings. In the end, she’s happy with her choices. Despite the dark subject matter of the film (sexuality, violence, gore), there’s a light whimsicality to it. I actually wanted to watch this film solely for the composer, Alexandre Desplat, who is one of my absolute favorites. His dainty musical score is one of the many parts of this film nominated for an Academy Award. The film is even up for Best Picture.

In spite of all this, I’m not sure if I would agree that it’s deserving of the title “Best Film of the Year.” It has so many Oscar nominations, and some of them I can get behind (best director for Guillermo del Toro, for instance? Sure, the film was beautiful), but Best Picture? I’m not sure if the story had enough to offer. Using the Cold War and the competition between the US and Russia as a backdrop to explain scientific discoveries is cliché. The bad guy hating the sea creature because he only sees white men as those in the Lord’s image? Cliché in some parts of the world, revolutionary in others, so that’s up for debate. 

What I did like is the muteness of our main character. Because she cannot speak any dialogue, all of the exposition has to be done through dialogue around her, or through actions. Brilliant filmmaking there, considering the sea monster can’t speak either, and he’s our second main character. (75/100)

Quote - “Unable to perceive the shape of you/I find you all around me./Your presence fills my eyes with your love/It humbles my heart/For you are everywhere.”

What to watch for – See how many times you can spot clever uses of the color green! (Or teal?)

If you liked this movie, I'd recommend Beauty and the Beast???

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Distribution Company: Fox Searchlight