The Shape Of Water Gets Rave First Reactions

By Josh Tarpley

​“The Shape of Water,” the latest fantasy film from Guillermo Del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Crimson Peak”), is making its rounds through the Fall festival circuit, and it sounds to be a major player in this year’s Oscar race. The first trailer hit the web a few weeks ago, cueing audiences into another warped romance that one can only expect from Del Toro.

Will Del Toro join his fellow “Amigos” Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu and jump into the Oscar race this Fall? Click beyond the jump to see the first reactions to “The Shape of Water.”

With the film making its debut at the Venice Film Festival, it is safe to say that the audience liked what they saw...

Omg omg omg The Shape of Water is spectacular. What an extraordinarily special film. One of Del Toro's best films, hands down. Oh my.

— Alex Billington (@firstshowing) August 31, 2017

#TheShapeofWater - del Toro's monster love story is rapturous and beautiful in all the ways. #venezia74

— Alonso Duralde ? (@ADuralde) August 31, 2017

For first 1/2 hour or so, I thought The Shape of Water might be an all-timer. It's not, but by far GDT's best since Pan's Labyrinth

— Paul O'Callaghan (@PaulOCallaghan) August 31, 2017

Del Toro's The Shape of Water is a ravishing, nourishing monster movie romance. Red meat for the senses with some sugar on top #Venezia74

— Xan Brooks (@XanBrooks) August 31, 2017

​Variety’s Guy Lodge had the following to say about the film, which sounds to be something truly special,

“For those few cinema scholars who speak of some motion pictures as “films,” and others as “movies,” Guillermo del Toro’s glorious “The Shape of Water” refuses to go tidily into either box. A ravishing, eccentric auteur’s imagining, spilling artistry, empathy and sensuality from every open pore, it also offers more straight-up movie for your money than just about any Hollywood studio offering this year. This decidedly adult fairytale, about a forlorn, mute cleaning lady and the uncanny merman who save each other’s lives in very different ways, careers wildly from mad-scientist B-movie to heart-thumping Cold War noir to ecstatic, wings-on-heels musical, keeping an unexpectedly classical love story afloat with every dizzy genre turn. Lit from within by a heart-clutching silent star turn from Sally Hawkins, lent dialogue by one of Alexandre Desplat’s most abundantly swirling scores, this is incontestably del Toro’s most rewarding, richly realized film — or movie, for that matter — since 2006’s ‘Pan’s Labyrinth.’”

This is pretty exciting stuff folks. Fox Searchlight’s confidence should tell us a lot. They are taking the film to as many festivals as they can before it hits theaters on December 9. What do you all think? Could this lead to Del Toro’s first Best Director nomination? Will “The Shape of Water” receive nominations in the above the line categories? Let us know in the comments below!

You can follow Josh and hear more of his thoughts on the Oscars and Film on Twitter at @JoshTarpley7