Shape of Water is an American fantasy film that is yet to be released. The film is directed by Guillermo Del Toro and will feature a couple of A-list actors including Octavia Spenser, Richard Jenkins, and Sally Hawkins among others. The movie is set against the backdrop of the US Cold War era and it revolves around the lives of a several high-tech laboratory workers. Two of the workers, Elisa (Hawkins) and Zelda (Spencer) come across a life- changing discovery in the form of a highly level experiment that the laboratory was working on.
Initially, Elisa is presented as a quiet, lonely, low-level employee that seems to be fighting issue of her own. However, her discovery of the laboratory’s top secret serves to completely change her life. The secret experiment in question is a humanoid creature that is the creation of the high-tech establishment. The creature is kept in a water filled enclosure in some form of controlled experiment that seeks to analyze its characteristics. The most interesting twist in the film is the fact that Elisa actually goes ahead and develops romantic feelings for the humanoid most probably on account of her lonely status. Another notable aspect of the film is that there is a hint of high level government conspiracy with respect to the project and this is indeed one of the key things that serve to make the plot interesting.
Del Toro has established a reputation for making over-the-top horror movies that feature interesting and captivating story lines. Be that as it may, Shape of Water seems to take things a couple of notches higher as compared to his previous works including Hellboy and Hellboy 2. For instance, the love story between a humanoid and an actual human being is something that most people could not have predicted. The movie is therefore more though provoking as compared to Hellboy and this might certainly work in its favor.
One of the most notable trends with respect to horror movies is the preference by most directors to integrate elements of humor in such movies. This usually serves to as some sort of comic relief into the movie, but it also sort of tones down the overall feel of the movie. For instance, one of Del Toro’s earlier works mimic featured a significant level of humor and this was probably meant to enable the audience relate with the film despite the fact that it is indeed a horror film. However, in Shape of Water, Del Toro’s maintains a rather serious tone throughout the film which is one of its most visible selling points.
The use of fantasy as a stylistic device is also something that one cannot miss while watching the movie. Some Del Toro’s earlier works might have integrated fantasy in their plot development but Shape of Water takes fantasy to another dimension thus making it quite difficult for one to accurately predict how the plot of the movie will unveil.
Shape of Water is definitely a good watch, however, it is advisable for the audience to try and have an open mind approach while watching the film.
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