Jorgensen Guest Filmmaker Series, Transfixed: Michael Shannon on Screen
Sometimes you find love in the most aquatic of places. In a top-secret government facility, true affection bubbles up between a lonely human and a captive amphibious creature. Told as only Guillermo del Toro could do!
From master storyteller Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water is an otherworldly fable, set against the backdrop of Cold War-era America circa 1962. In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is trapped in a life of isolation. Elisa’s life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment. Michael Shannon rounds out a stellar cast also including Richard Jenkins, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Hoosier-born Doug Jones. [123 min; drama, fantasy; American Sign Language, Russian, French, and English with English subtitles]
"A film that makes you feel a lot. But overridingly you feel lucky—lucky to be watching it, lucky that something so sincerely sweet, sorrowfully scary and surpassingly strange can exist in this un-wonderful world, and desirous of hanging on to as much of its magic for as long as you can after you reemerge back onto dry land." — Jessica Kiang, The Playlist
"The Shape of Water lives and breathes such defiant romanticism it's hard not to swoon." — Zhou-Ning Su, Awards Daily
"Simply beautifully enchanting and brutally mysterious, visually luscious and mesmerising, del Toro is a cinematic genius." — Zehra Phelan, Flavourmag
Any film screened at IU Cinema may contain content that viewers find sensitive or upsetting. Visit our Audience Advisories page to learn more.
