The Shape Of Water

In this dark fairy tale set during the height of the Cold War, Sally Hawkins plays Elisa, a mute who works as a cleaning lady in a top-secret science centre in Baltimore. A mysterious aquatic creature is brought into the centre, and Elisa becomes his only friend. When the sadistic security chief (Michael Shannon) wants to kill the creature for fear of Soviet spies getting a hold of its biological secrets, Elisa has to rescue him. The film has been nominated for 13 Oscars. Directed by Guillermo Del Toro.