The Shape of Water is a 1960s-set fantasy/romance about a woman who falls in love with an otherworldly creature and tries to rescue him. It's from beloved director Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth), and it easily ranks among his best films, but it's only recommended for older teens and up due to its mature content. Expect to see lots of blood, some jump scares, fighting and hitting, guns and shooting, and other gory/horrific moments (for example, a man rips off his own rotting fingers, and the creature bites a cat's head off). There's also full-frontal female nudity and some strong sexual situations: a married couple has sex (viewers see a naked male bottom thrusting), a woman masturbates in a bathtub, and the woman and the creature share a kind of supernatural sex scene. Language is also strong, with uses of "f--k," "motherf----r," "s--t," "p---y," and more. Some characters smoke, and one pops pain pills.
The film is directed by Guillermo del Toro, Mexican director, producer and scriptwriter who is known for printing a spectacular aesthetic and atmosphere to his films, creating gloomy and oppressive environments or magical and fantastic situations. In the mid-80s he began shooting horror short films, such as "Doña Lupe" (1985) and "Geometría" (1987). He debuted in the long with Cronos (1993), a Mexican film about vampires that was starring Federico Luppi and Ron Perlman. The film had excellent positive reviews and opened wide the doors of Hollywood. However, the US premiere of his second feature film, Mimic (1997), was not very successful and he decided to return to Mexico to form his own production company, The Tequila Gang. He returned to earn the respect of critics with The Spine of the Devil (2001), a mystery film about haunted houses set during the Spanish Civil War. After this work, he was hired to direct Blade II (2002), the sequel to the popular movie based on the comic of the same name. The United States began to strongly recognize his skills as a director, so again in 2004 he returned to direct a feature film based on a comic: Hellboy (2004), a film starring his fetish actor, Ron Perlman, who repeated in the sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Arm (2008). So far he has only been nominated once for the awards of the Hollywood Academy and it was thanks to what many experts call his best work El laberinto del fauno (2006), and in the category of best original screenplay. The film won three Oscars (makeup, photography and artistic direction) and seven Goyas, among them the best screenplay for Del Toro (but not the best director). Apart from his work as a director, the Mexican Guillermo del Toro has also produced several films, including El Orfanato (2007), horror film and suspense about enchanted house directed by JA Bayona, and Mama (2013), a horror movie in the same line as the previous one written and directed by Andrés Muschietti. Del Toro has also promoted several television series of fantasy genre such as "The Strain" (2014), a thriller about vampires and "Trollhunters" (2016), a series of children's animation. He returned to the big screen with the action and science fiction film Pacific Rim (2013). The film premiered on July 12, 2013 and raised 411 million. Two years later, he returned to the fantasy genre with Crimson Peak (2015), a horror film and haunted houses whose plot is framed in the late nineteenth century, in an old English mansion. The film was starred by Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston and Charlie Hunnam.
WHAT'S THE STORY? In THE SHAPE OF WATER, mute Elisa (Sally Hawkins) works nights as a cleaning lady for an aerospace research center in the early 1960s. She and her talkative best friend, Zelda (Octavia Spencer), start cleaning one of the rooms and discover some kind of non-human being (Doug Jones) in a tank full of water. Finding herself drawn to him, Elisa keeps visiting, bringing him hard-boiled eggs and playing music. But since the cruel, vicious Colonel Strickland (Michael Shannon) violently treats the creature as an enemy, Elisa decides to break him out. She enlists the aid of her loyal next-door neighbor, commercial artist Giles (Richard Jenkins), and is unexpectedly helped by scientist Hoffstetler (Michael Stuhlbarg), who doesn't want to see the creature killed and dissected. With the creature living in her bathtub, Elisa realizes that she must free him. But does she have enough time? And what's the secret of their mysterious connection?
MOVIE INFO Rating: R (for sexual content, graphic nudity, violence and language) Genre: Drama, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Romance Directed By: Guillermo del Toro Written By: Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor In theaters: December 1, 2017 Runtime: 119 minutes Music: Alexandre Desplat Studio: Fox Searchlight Cast: Michael Shannon, Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Lauren Lee Smith, David Hewlett, Nick Searcy, Morgan Kelly, Dru Viergever
Source: CommonSenseMedia