The Shape of Water ''The Shape of Water'' is a 2017 romantic fantasy film directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor. It stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spencer ...

'' is a 2017 American

romantic fantasy Romantic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy fiction, describing a fantasy story using many of the elements and conventions of the chivalric romance genre. One of the key features of romantic fantasy involves the focus on relationships, social, ...

film directed and produced by Guillermo del Toro. The film, written by del Toro and

Vanessa Taylor Vanessa Taylor is an American screenwriter and television producer. She is known for writing '' Hope Springs'', '' Divergent'', and '' The Shape of Water'', as well as for her work as a writer and co-executive producer on seasons two and three of ...

, follows a

mute Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak. Mute or the Mute may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Mute'' (2005 film), a short film by Melissa Joan Hart * ''Mute'' (2018 film), a scien ...

custodian at a high-security government laboratory who falls in love with a captured humanoid amphibian creature. It stars

Sally Hawkins Sally Cecilia Hawkins (born 27 April 1976) is an English actress who began her career on stage and then moved into film. She has received several awards including a Golden Globe Award and the Berlin International Film Festival's Silver Bear fo ...

, with

Michael Shannon Michael Corbett Shannon (born August 7, 1974) is an American actor, producer, musician, and theater director. He is an off beat actor known for his on-screen versatility, performing in both comedies and dramas. He became known for his frequent ...

Richard Jenkins Richard Dale Jenkins (born May 4, 1947) is an American actor who is well known for his portrayal of deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series '' Six Feet Under'' (2001–2005). He began his career in theater at the Tr ...

, Doug Jones,

Michael Stuhlbarg Michael Stewart Stuhlbarg ( ; born July 5, 1968) is an American actor. He is known as a character actor having portrayed a variety of roles in film, television and theatre. He has received several awards including two Screen Actors Guild Awards wi ...

, and

Octavia Spencer Octavia Lenora Spencer (born May 25, 1970) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Critics' Choice Awards and three Screen Actors ...

in featured roles.

Alexandre Desplat Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat (; born 23 August 1961) is a French film composer and conductor. He has won many awards, including two Academy Awards, for his musical scores to the films '' The Grand Budapest Hotel'' and '' The Shape of Water'' ...

composed the film's musical score, while

Paul Denham Austerberry Paul Austerberry (born 1966) is a Canadian film and television production designer. For his set design in the 2017 film ''The Shape of Water'' he won an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Production Design with set decorators Shane Vieau a ...

Jeff Melvin Jeff A. Melvin is a Canadian set decorator. Best known for his work on the 2017 film, ''The Shape of Water'', for which he won Academy Award for Best Production Design The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for ar ...

, and

Shane Vieau Shane Vieau is a Canadian set decorator best known for his work on the 2017 film, ''The Shape of Water'', for which he won an Academy Award for Best Production Design, with production designer, Paul Denham Austerberry and set decorator Jeff Mel ...

were responsible for the production design. The film premiered at the

74th Venice International Film Festival The 74th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 30 August to 9 September 2017. The jury president was announced as the actress Annette Bening on 5 July 2017. '' Downsizing'', directed by Alexander Payne, was selected to open ...

on August 31, 2017, where it won the Golden Lion. Following successful screenings at the

Telluride Film Festival The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a film festival held annually in Telluride, Colorado during Labor Day weekend (the first Monday in September). The 49th edition took place on September 2 -6, 2022. History First held on 30 August 1974, t ...

, the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

, and the BFI London Film Festival,

Fox Searchlight Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century St ...

gave the film a limited release in New York City on December 1 before its official wide release in the United States on December 8. The film earned a worldwide box office total of more than $195 million.

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, a review aggregator, surveyed 454 reviews and judged 92% to be positive. ''The Shape of Water'' garnered several awards and nominations with particular praise for del Toro's direction, the cast, Desplat's score, and the production design. The film earned thirteen nominations at the

90th Academy Awards The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2017, and took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was held on March 4, ...

, and went on to win four awards, including

Best Picture This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

and

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

. It is the second fantasy film to win Best Picture after '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' (2003). It received twelve nominations at the

71st British Academy Film Awards The 71st British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs, were held on 18 February 2018 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 2017. Presented by the British Academy of Film and Telev ...

, winning three awards, including Best Direction, Best Original Music, and Best Production Design. At the

75th Golden Globe Awards The 75th Golden Globe Awards honored film and American television of 2017, and was broadcast live on January 7, 2018, from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California beginning at 5:00 p.m. PST / 8:00 p.m. EST by NBC. This Golden ...

, the film earned seven nominations, winning

and Best Original Score. At the 29th Producers Guild of America Awards, ''The Shape of Water'' won for Best Theatrical Motion Picture. Del Toro won Outstanding Directing – Feature Film at the

70th Directors Guild of America Awards The 70th Directors Guild of America Awards, honoring the outstanding directorial achievement in feature films, documentary, television and commercials of 2017, were presented on February 3, 2018 at Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills, California. The ...

. The film received fourteen nominations at the

23rd Critics' Choice Awards The 23rd Critics' Choice Awards were presented on January 11, 2018 at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport, honoring the finest achievements of filmmaking and television programming in 2017. The ceremony was broadcast on The CW and hoste ...

and won four awards including

. In addition, the American Film Institute selected it as one of the top 10 films of the year.

Accolades

See also

Notes

References

External links