The Shape of Water (2017)

The Shape of Water rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb7.3/10· 473K votes

Rotten Tomatoes92%

Metacritic87%

TMDb7.2/10· 13K votes

With 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 7.3/10 on IMDb and 87/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been very positive.

About The Shape of Water

An other-worldly story, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1962, where a mute janitor working at a lab falls in love with an amphibious man being held captive there and devises a plan to help him escape.

Cast of The Shape of Water

• 

  Sally Hawkins

  as Elisa Esposito

• 

  Michael Shannon

  as Richard Strickland

• 

  Richard Jenkins

  as Giles

• 

  Octavia Spencer

  as Zelda Fuller

• 

  Michael Stuhlbarg

  as Dr. Robert Hoffstetler

• 

  Doug Jones

  as Amphibian Man

• 

  David Hewlett

  as Fleming

• 

  Nick Searcy

  as General Hoyt

• 

  Stewart Arnott

  as Bernard

• 

  Nigel Bennett

  as Mihalkov

• 

  Lauren Lee Smith

  as Elaine Strickland

• 

  Martin Roach

  as Brewster Fuller

The Shape of Water facts

Budget

$19.5M

Box office

$195.3M

Our take on The Shape of Water

Guillermo del Toro's 2017 fantasy unfolds against Cold War America circa 1962, where a mute janitor at a secretive government lab forms a wordless bond with an amphibious man held captive there and hatches a plan to free him. Del Toro treats the premise as a tender fairy tale for adults, wrapping romance, danger and outsider longing in lush, aquatic-hued production design. The film moves at a deliberate, dreamlike pace, favoring mood and empathy over spectacle, and its fantasy elements sit beside real cruelty and period tension. Viewers drawn to grown-up fables, unconventional love stories and painterly craft will be rewarded; those wanting brisk action should look elsewhere.