After a few weeks of little to no big film and television news, there have been a lot of new trailer releases this week. A part of that can definitely be attributed to San Diego Comic-Con beginning yesterday but promotion for the upcoming fall and winter releases is about to ramp up as well. That’s right. Blockbuster season is already nearing its end as we’re over halfway through 2017. Luckily, there are plenty of highly anticipated films to look forward to in the second half of the year such as IT, Blade Runner 2049, and Guillermo del Toro’s new film, The Shape of Water.
Del Toro doesn’t constantly pump out new work like some directors do so when he does have something on the way, it should be met with excitement. He has a style and elegance of his own in films like Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water looks no different.
The film is an original story from del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, who co-wrote the screenplay, about a mute woman named Elisa (Sally Hawkins). She works in a government laboratory as a janitor when her and a colleague, played by Octavia Spencer, discover a creature trapped in a water tank. Elisa befriends the creature who doesn’t see her differences from other people.
Like Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water feels like a beautifully unique fairy tale experience with a dark twist. The creature, presumably played by del Toro regular Doug Jones, looks like a combination of Gill Man from Creature from the Black Lagoon and Abe Sapien from Hellboy. For the film, it works even though the look feels familiar. Sally Hawkins as a non-speaking lead is an excellent choice. Hawkins has been severely underrated in Hollywood despite being nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine a few years back. The rest of the main cast includes Michael Shannon, Michael Stuhlbarg and Richard Jenkins.
The Shape of Water is set for release on December 8th. Check out the trailer and comment below.
