The Shape of Water

The description for this movie: A lonely janitor at a government facility forms a relationship with an aquatic creature at the facility.

Hmmm.

Despite the film getting great reviews, it wasn't until my friend Stephanie recommended it to me as she was taking me to the train station that I decided I wanted to see it. Pam and I made plans to see it while I was in SLC, and we were not disappointed!

The film takes place in the 1960s at a government facility. Elisa (a luminous Sally Hawkins) and Zelda (Octavia Spencer) are janitors at this facility. Oh, and Elisa is mute. She is friends with her next door neighbor, and artist and closeted-gay man who just wants to live a regular life. When the facility becomes home to a strange aquatic creature, Elisa recognizes it/him as a being worth getting to know (rather than examining, cutting open, and then discarding).

In the hands of inventive filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, the film is magical and beautiful. Every set and camera movement and color choice contributes to the world of the story. I love that the characters live above a movie theater, and that film canisters can be seen in the hallway. The joy of films is ever-present in the movie, and I love the scene of the creature standing in an empty movie theater, found by Elisa as he stares at the movie on the screen.

It's a truly lovely, magical film that brings together misfits and those who don't "fit" into society.