[Movie Review] ‘The Shape of Water’ shows us how inexplicable love can be

The Shape of Water - Twentieth Century Fox
The Shape of Water - Twentieth Century Fox

While “The Shape of Water” sounds fantastical as a premise and is executed just as imaginatively, it’s lacking in terms of the relatability of the story. As a result, your suspension of disbelief is mostly tenuously maintained by the film, with occasional snaps in validity.

(From L-R) Michael Shannon, Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer in the film THE SHAPE OF WATER. (Twentieth Century Fox)
(From L-R) Michael Shannon, Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer in the film THE SHAPE OF WATER. (Twentieth Century Fox)

 

The fantasy drama is set in the 60’s, and follows a mute cleaner who inexplicably falls in love with a strange amphibian humanoid who is being experimented on at a secret government laboratory. Admittedly, were it not for its Oscar nomination, I might very well have overlooked “The Shape of Water”.

The Shape of Water - Twentieth Century Fox
The Shape of Water – Twentieth Century Fox

The love story is probably what flummoxes me when it comes to believability. While it’s a sweet idea to see two different species growing to love each other, despite being unable to communicate, it’s also not entirely convincing. Maybe it’s because we hardly get insight into the amphibious humanoid’s perspective. We never really know what he’s thinking – but then again, that is the point of the romantic thread in the film. It’s about how love transcends all barriers and makes them inconsequential.

The Shape of Water - Twentieth Century Fox
The Shape of Water – Twentieth Century Fox

Maybe it’s a result of my jaded world view, but my response to this is – huh? Are they just going to engage in carnal pleasures for the rest of their romantic existence? It’s played up as a powerful visual spectacle in the film itself, so it’s clearly meant to have huge symbolic significance.

It’s true that physical affection makes up a large part of any relationship, but surely it isn’t enough to sustain a supernatural relationship for more than say, a few years? How did an amphibious humanoid even learn sign language so quickly, when it takes humans a much longer time to mater it? How will their whole relationship even last?

The Shape of Water - Twentieth Century Fox
The Shape of Water – Twentieth Century Fox

More than anything else, this set of interactions, this human drama, this semi-forbidden relationship is what feels so indulgent in a film that otherwise deserves its Academy Award for how it was made. The production values are excellent and stylistic, immersing you in a slightly steampunk world of conspiracies and mysterious creatures. The period sets do a good job of fusing reality with fantasy, and visually it’s clear that there is a strong vision for the art direction.

The Shape of Water - Twentieth Century Fox
The Shape of Water – Twentieth Century Fox

The attention to detail is also impressive (but it’s really on a second viewing that you’ll notice this, since the story is interesting enough such that your eyes won’t be wandering the screen noticing the sets, even if you are wondering about its plausibility), and there’s a heavy amount of symbolism infused into the set design. Then again, you’d probably expect nothing else from a Guillermo del Toro film.

The Shape of Water - Twentieth Century Fox
The Shape of Water – Twentieth Century Fox

Sally Hawkins bears the burden of portraying a mute character who falls in love with an inhuman character, and she manages to do it with aplomb. You can see why she falls in love with the amphibious humanoid (although it’s more difficult to see why it works the other way) and her humanity stands out in stark contrast to the creature that she loves. Her lack of dialogue is no impediment to her delivery of the character at all.

The Shape of Water - Twentieth Century Fox
The Shape of Water – Twentieth Century Fox

Nevertheless, the love story, which is the emotional crux of the film, is one that leaves you feeling awkward and slightly confused. Perhaps that is one of the themes of the film – that love is sometimes inexplicable – but it comes at the expense of relatability. After all, how many of us have fallen for seemingly alien creatures (this is not a spoiler)?

Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Yes.

Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? No.

Score: 3.2/5

Secret ending? No.

Running time: 123 minutes (~2 hours)

“The Shape of Water” is a fantasy and science-fiction romantic drama.

The film is directed and written by Guillermo del Toro, with additional writing credits for Vanessa Taylor. It stars Sally Hawkings (Elisa Esposito), Michael Shannon (Colonel Richard Strickland), Richard Jenkins (Giles), Octavia Spencer (Zelda Delilah Fuller), Michael Stuhlbarg (Dr Robert Hoffstetler), and Doug Jones (the Amphibious Humanoid). It is rated M-18.

“The Shape of Water” opens in cinemas:
1 February, 2018 (Singapore)
– 22 March, 2018 (Malaysia)
– 21 February, 2018 (Philippines) 

This is an original article on marcusgohmarcusgoh.com


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I’m a Singapore television scriptwriter who’s written for Lion Mums, Crimewatch, Police & Thief, and Incredible Tales. I’m also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. You can find me on social media as Optimarcus and on my site.

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