The Shape of Water was recently released on video and I have been telling everyone to watch it. When it originally came out in theaters, the movie was limited release and only had a few places in DFW that was showing the film. While cycling through reviews it is obvious how poloraizing the opinions are when it comes to The Shape of Water. People love the interspeicies romance or was too "wild". I am a big Del Toro fan. I like weird stuff.
The movie introduces you to this world of the 60's inside of a CIA building. A couple of the cleaning staff are in the room where a new "subject" will be kept for research. When the new creature is fully shown it is a humanoid water creater. One of the cleaning staff ladys, Elisa, cannot speak and doesn't seem to have anyother friends beyond an artist she works for after hours and her immediate coworker. When the creature and Elisa start to interact more an attraction starts to grow.
The world is self contained. It never addresses how common or uncommon finding humanoid creatures are or if they are unheard of. From time to time the creature even summons some magic use. When the creature is first introduced, no one seems surprised that a creature was caught. It feels like the shock of having seen a creature is from the possibility of never seeing one in person? The only glempse of normal life you get are the scenes of the artist friend having casual interactions and the common daily work of being the hired help. With a lot of the world being unaddressed, there is a lot of room for this world to have rules that are unspoken. Maybe some people like every detail to be directly delivered and the lack of it is what brings the negative opinions of the film.
Watch or rewatch this movie with an open mind and just enjoy what was created. A great story pulls out of your wold and into another that doesn't exist. A place more interesting that operates differently that can be enjoyed simply be the contrast of what is the real world.. Once you drop some of the crazier ideas, the film bursts with charm from the era it portrays and the quirky charaters that exist in it.