In short, the poster kind of tells you what you're going to get... a woman falls in love with an Amphibious Man... it's part Creature From The Black Lagoon, part Hidden Figures, part Hell Boy.
Coming from del Toro, that last one isn't too big of a surprise, and while it does feel like it's an extension of the Abe Sapien story from those movies, this is entirely it's own thing with just a few idea sprinkled in from Abe's story.
The other thing that's incredibly unique about this movie is that the two lead characters don't talk. One is a fish person, the other is entirely mute. Which leaves the majority of the talking to be done by secondary characters, and given that they're a black woman and a closeted gay man in the 1960's, speaks volumes.
The acting is amazing throughout, Sally Hawkins as Elisa and Doug Jones as Amphibian Man put so much into both of their characters (although the focus is really on Hawkins) that it doesn't matter that they don't speak. Richard Jenkins and Octavia Spencer as the aforementioned characters who do all the talking are likewise excellent, but then Spencer was also excellent in Hidden Figures.
Michael Shannon is also perfectly cast as the 1960's Company Man/Army villain... he does creepy incredibly well. An additional shout out needs to go to Michael Stuhlbarg who plays one of the scientists and makes a slightly odd character incredibly likeable and engaging.
The story is very sweet (mostly when it's focused on the main characters), although there are a couple of points where you need to suspend disbelief (and things like logic and physics) beyond the fact that fish people exist. There's also weirdly a "circled date on the calendar" that makes no actual sense when you think about it (without spoiling anything, why exactly do they need to wait for the rain... can't they just drive to the ocean?).
But the story and performances are so charming and beautiful that I'll happily let those things slide.
yani's rating: 4 boiled eggs out of 5
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