THE SHAPE OF WATER FANTASTICAL LOVE STORY

Guillermo del Toro, the director of this romantic fantasy, describes it as a ‘fairytale for troubled times’. Set in 1960s America, it stars Sally Hawkins as the doe-eyed, mute Elisa, a ‘princess without a voice’. Her prince comes to her in the most unlikely of places, inside the cavernous research facility where she works as a cleaner. He is also the most unlikely of princes – an amphibian man being held captive at the facility. The film looks absolutely gorgeous, a jawdropping vision of colour and texture that is also rich with cinematic references. And for all its beguiling strangeness, it is also wonderfully buoyant and uplifting. From Friday