The Shape of Water - Exquisite fairy tale of a romance.

Not sure will this premier locally cause even when it does don't bother as it will be buchered by LPF. This is not a disney movie to bring the kids along unless you are ready to be a biology teacher of flowers and bees. Afterall it earned the category 3 rating in Hong Kong.

Initially I thought they will borrow heavily from the fantastic Jean Pierre Jeunet playbook of whimsical and quirky treatment like the classic Delicatessen. It did a bit of that and a whole lot of GDT own signature. It's an homage to the classical love story with the current sensibilities. Racism, xenophobia and homophobia are little subplots surrounding the main story.

The star of the whole movie definitely Sally Hawkins with her strong performance as the adorable lead falling in love  with the creature. Then you have the camaraderie side characters to Elisa to complete her story. Michael Shannon as usual plays a very effective villain that drives the movie forward. For sure this will cement Del Toro reputation as a bona fide auteur but his best work to date still belongs to Pan's Labyrinth.