The Shape of Water Review

The Shape of Water is one of the strangest movies I have seen in a long time. This movie is about a mute janitor who falls in love with an amphibious man being held in a lab during the Cold War. Sally Hawkins is really good in this movie as the mute janitor. She brings a lot to her character despite never speaking. Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer, and Michael Stuhlbarg all give great performances in smaller roles. However, this movie belongs to Michael Shannon. He gives an incredible performance in this movie and steals every scene he's in. Director Guillermo Del Toro deserves all the praise he is getting for this movie. This is a beautifully directed movie with incredible cinematography and set design. The effects work on the fish man, played by Doug Jones, are stunning as well. As for flaws, though this movie is way too weird even for me at times. Also, the pacing is all over the place. At 122 minutes sometimes it moved super fast and other times super slow. This made the movie feel much longer than it is. While I did enjoy The Shape of Water, overall I would only recommend it to people who know what they are getting into.

7/10