Review of The Shape of Water (2017) by Gregg M — 30 Dec 2017
It's not your typical girl meets creature from the Black Lagoon story. The elephant in this room is the allegory. There is a long history of disapproval or discomfort with people from different groups becoming romantically involved.
This film dials that meditation on abomination up an order of magnitude and sits it between the viewer's eyeballs. The storyline is more or less a rescue caper, without a chorus raining down condemnation of an unnatural love.
Michael Shannon is given a few poetic lines that I think the movie would have been fine without. This movie is drop-dead gorgeous and fascinating. Cinematography and art direction are first rate. The score and sound design are terrific.
Old movies play in the background, keying us in to the homage. They set a bar that points us towards this film's stylistic goal. I might even say this one would not be out of place in the company of the term, masterpiece.
This review of The Shape of Water (2017) was written by Gregg M on 30 Dec 2017.
The Shape of Water has generally received very positive reviews.
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