The Shape of Water (film)

The Shape of Water is a American Romantic Drama set in Baltimore, Maryland in 1962 where in a mute custodian falls in love with an amphibious humanoid creature while working at a high security government laboratory. The film debuted in Venice, Italy on August 31, 2017 and say wide spread theatrical release in the United States of America on the 1st of December the same year.

Plot
Elisa Esposito, who as an orphaned child was found in a river with wounds on her neck, is mute, and communicates through sign language. She lives alone in an apartment above a cinema, and works as a cleaning-woman at a secret government laboratory in Baltimore at the height of the Cold War. Her friends are her closeted next-door neighbor Giles, a struggling advertising illustrator who shares a strong bond with her, and her co-worker Zelda, an African-American woman who also serves as her interpreter at work.

The facility receives a mysterious creature captured from a South American river by Colonel Richard Strickland, who is in charge of the project to study it. Curious about the creature, Elisa discovers it is a humanoid amphibian. She begins visiting him in secret, and the two form a close bond.

Seeking to exploit the creature to American advantage in the Space Race, a General, Frank Hoyt, orders Strickland to vivisect it. One scientist, Robert Hoffstetle, who is in truth a Soviet spy named Dimitri Mosenkov, pleads unsuccessfully to keep the creature alive for further study and, at the same time, is ordered by his Soviet handlers to euthanize the creature. When Elisa learns of the Americans' plans for the creature, she persuades Giles to help her free him. Mosenkov discovers Elisa's plot and chooses to help her. Though initially reluctant, Zelda becomes involved in the escape, and it is successful.

Elisa keeps the creature in her bathtub, adding salt to the water to keep him alive. She plans to release the creature into a nearby canal when it will be opened to the ocean in several days' time. As part of his efforts to recover the creature, Strickland interrogates Elisa and Zelda, but the failure of his advances toward Elisa hampers his judgment, and he dismisses them. Back at the apartment, Giles discovers the creature devouring one of his cats, Pandora. Startled, the creature slashes Giles's arm and rushes out of the apartment. The creature gets as far as the cinema downstairs before Elisa finds him and returns him to her apartment. The creature touches Giles on his balding head and his wounded arm; the next morning, Giles discovers his hair has begun growing back and the wounds on his arm have healed. Elisa and the creature soon become romantically involved, having sex in her bathroom, which she at one point fills completely with water.

Hoyt gives Strickland an ultimatum, asking him to recover the creature within 36 hours. Meanwhile, Mosenkov is told by his handlers that he will be extracted in two days. As the planned release date approaches, the creature's health starts deteriorating. Mosenkov leaves to rendezvous with his handlers, with Strickland tailing him. At the rendezvous, Mosenkov is shot by one of his handlers, but Strickland shoots the handlers dead and then tortures Mosenkov for information. Mosenkov implicates Elisa and Zelda before dying from his wounds. Strickland then threatens Zelda in her home, causing her terrified husband to reveal that Elisa had been keeping the creature. Strickland searches Elisa's apartment and finds a calendar note revealing when and where she plans to release him.

At the canal, Elisa and Giles bid farewell to the creature, but Strickland arrives and attacks them all. Strickland knocks Giles down and shoots the creature and Elisa, who both appear to die. However, the creature heals himself and slashes Strickland's throat, killing him. As police arrive on the scene with Zelda, the creature takes Elisa and jumps into the canal, where, deep under water, he heals her. When he applies his healing touch to the scars on her neck, she starts to breathe through gills. In a closing voiceover narration, Giles conveys his belief that Elisa lived "happily ever after" with the creature.

Production
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Cast

 * Sally Hawkins as Elisa Esposito, a mute cleaner who works at a secret government laboratory.
 * Michael Shannon as Colonel Richard Strickland, a corrupt military official in charge of the project to study the "asset".
 * Richard Jenkins as Giles, Elisa's closeted neighbor and close friend who is a struggling advertising illustrator.
 * Octavia Spencer as Zelda Delilah Fuller, Elisa's co-worker and friend who serves as her interpreter.
 * Michael Stuhlbarg as Dimitri Mosenkov, a Soviet spy working as a scientist studying the creature, under the alias "Dr. Robert Hoffstetler".
 * Doug Jones as "Amphibian Man", an amphibious creature referred to as the "asset", with whom Elisa forms a close bond.
 * David Hewlett as Fleming, the laboratory's head of security.
 * Nick Searcy as General Frank Hoyt, a United States General who is Strickland's superior.
 * Stewart Arnott as Bernard, Giles' employer and former lover.
 * Nigel Bennett as Mihalkov, Mosenkov's handler.
 * Lauren Lee Smith as Elaine Strickland, Strickland's wife.
 * Martin Roach as Brewster Fuller, Zelda's husband.
 * Allegra Fulton as Yolanda, a cleaning woman at the laboratory.
 * John Kapelos as Mr. Arzoumanian, the owner of the cinema who resided below Elisa and Giles' apartments.
 * Morgan Kelly as Pie Guy, a diner employee to whom Giles is attracted.

Crew

 * Director/Producer/Writer: Guillermo del Toro
 * Producer: J. Miles Dale
 * Writer: Vanessa Taylor

Reception
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