The Shape of Water - Guillermo del Toro (2017)

I have to tell you. My head is swimming. Do you know the kind of feeling you get when you've just been introduced to a book or a song or a film that was so beautiful, you actually get light-headed?

I had that experience twelve years ago when I saw Guillermo del Toro's "Pan's Labyrinth." When the movie was over, I froze. I was so overwhelmed that I sat right in my seat until someone came to clean the theatre.

And that's the feeling I'm experiencing right now. I just finished watching del Toro's "The Shape of Water."

The film is about a mute cleaning lady who works at a top-secret government facility in the '60's. Her world is changed forever when she comes across the U.S.'s newest specimen.

He looks like a swamp monster. He came from the Amazon. The government wants to examine him to see if holds any information they can use in the race to the moon against the Soviets.

You see the Soviets sent a dog to space and now we have to one-up them. So they found a creature with a different physical make-up than humans to see if he was fit for space travel. The government plans to either shoot him into space or vivisect the creature to see if they can't see what makes him tick. They just want any clues that can help them speed up their race to the moon.

Meanwhile, Elisa (Sally Hawkins), a mute cleaning lady, comes across the creature and doesn't see anything in him but a graceful soul, cut off from everything in the world. Dumb from birth, Elisa knows exactly how he feels.

Her friends, Zelda (Octavia Spencer) a co-cleaning lady at the base, and an older man Giles (Richard Jenkins) understand how she feels. And that says something about what kind of friends they are. If your friend came to you with a story about how she's attracted to a swamp-thing, how sympathetic would you be? Or would you dismiss her as a freak?

But Elisa's friends accept her feelings at face value and agree to help her rescue him.

They are up against Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon), the agent in charge of this project. He looms over the whole film like a dark shadow. He is a sadist and, when all is said and done, is eager to destroy the creature Elisa has fallen for.

The film evolves into an elegant fantasy/love story.

It's about how the forces of evil can take the shape of the institutions we are expected to trust and accept. And conversely, how the misfits are often the good guys.

One of the most brilliant pieces to this films is Sally Hawkins' performance. Del Toro asks her to go to places most actress have never been to and she dives into her character, her innocence, boldness and goodness seamlessly.

Watching all of this wonder through her eyes is part of what makes this film so exceptional.

So please, seek out and enjoy this intense, dark, beautiful fairy tale.