Set in the 1960s, Elisa works in a secret research facility as a janitor. Elisa is a rather lonely person. Mute, her communication abilities are limited to those who take the time to learn how to sign. Her only friends are her next-door neighbor, Giles, and her co-worker, Zelda. She goes about her days in a routine, but it’s clear that she yearns for more. One day a mysterious specimen from South America is brought into the facility. It’s a large, fish-like being, and Elisa quickly finds out that this creature is far from a dumb animal that the handlers think he is. It’s an intelligent being that can communicate and understand her.
The Shape of Water is a fairy tale made for adults. Leave it to master director Guillermo del Toro to make a story like this work. It’s a tough idea to sell, a woman falling in love with a fish man. It’s so weird but I think it works because of the careful steps that are taken to get to the end.
Elisa’s character is set up well right away. We get a good idea of her wants and needs in the first few minutes and we get to see what space in this world she occupies. The characters of Giles and Zelda are strong ones, filling in the gaps of communication and feelings for the viewer.
The creature is frightening at first, one that is totally foreign to the above-ground world. But in time, as Elisa gets closer, so does the audience. It’s slow at first, how all good courtships go. Every day, Elisa makes hard boiled eggs and her first outreach to him is to offer him one. And that leads to the first communication: she signs “egg” as she gives it to him. From there she goes to visit him whenever she can, keeping their meetings as secret as she can. When the life of this creature she deeply cares about is threatened, she goes to great lengths to save him.
This movie got way more adult that I thought it ever would. There’s cursing, violence, nudity…this movie doesn’t hold back its punches. del Toro wanted to make a complete movie about love and yes, she does have sex with the creature. It’s all done rather beautifully and nothing explicit is shown, but you know exactly what’s going on. It’s a believable relationship and Giles and Zelda are used as guidance in understanding Elisa’s actions. They don’t judge her and the scene with Elisa begging Giles for his help to save the creature is one of the most effective parts of the movie.
The cast and production go a long way to make this world seem so real. Fantastic acting and the work done to make Doug Jones into the creature is absolutely top of the line. Lots of prosthetic make up make the creature a real presence and subtle CG augmentation puts that final touch of life into him. It’s a good trick, designing the creature to share strong male human traits while making him look completely foreign.
Guillermo del Toro often makes decisive movies. You either dig ’em or you don’t. Everyone agrees that they always look gorgeous but wether you go along for the ride is another question. I think this is one of del Toro’s strongest movies. It’s a take on the surreal, but one that revolves around one of our most powerful emotions and universal need: love.