Shape of Water Review

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Movie Summary

Shape of Water is the latest film by director Guillermo Del Toro. It takes place during the 1960's at a aquatic research center. A newly discovered creature is brought in for testing, and a seemingly innocent mute woman becomes intrigued with this unusual specimen.

MPAA Rating/Content

This film is rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, violence and language. The big thing here is sexual content. This movie has a lot of it. I wasn't expecting that going in. Practically every 15-20 minutes you can expect some form of nudity or sexual references. There is also a bit of blood and gore along with some torture. If you are a cat lover you may want to close your eyes during a particular scene.

My Rating: 8/10

*What I Liked

The use of the color green was very aesthetically pleasing. They refer to that as the "color of the future" in the film multiple times. I was reminded several times of the video game Bioshock in this as well. It had a lot of imagery that was very reminiscent to that if you are familiar with it. Also for an actress who doesn't have any dialogue Sally Hawkins carries the movie well, and I was interested to keep finding out more about her character. Michael Shannon is also great as the main antagonist. This movie takes aim at some topics of prejudice as it shows the discrimination of women, races, and even non-human beings.

*What I didn't Like

I feel like there is a very small audience that will like this movie. It is pretty out there. The first hour or so it is pretty normal, and doesn't go too extreme, but that changes rapidly. It is not your typical love story by any means. Although it is beautifully made I think some things could have been taken out or added to it to make it more welcomed by wider audiences. For one I would have liked to know more about the creatures background, but I guess that adds to the mystery.

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