Overview

The frontrunner to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, The Shape of Water sees Guillermo del Toro blend many of his standard storylines (dark fantasy, science-fiction, and period gothicism) into a very atmospheric and very green-hued crowd pleaser. Starring is Sally Hawkins (perhaps best known for her work in Mike Leigh films) as Elisa, a mute, isolated woman who works as a cleaning lady in a hidden, high-security government laboratory in 1962 Baltimore. She discovers the lab's classified secret—a mysterious creature from South America that lives in a water tank. As Elisa develops a unique bond with her new friend, she soon learns that its fate and very survival lies in the hands of a hostile government agent and a marine biologist.