It may be an absurd thing to say about a movie whose human protagonist (the
wonderful, still Oscar-less Sally Hawkins) winds up seducing a sea creature, but I wish that, beneath its luscious aquamarine surface, «The Shape of Water» were a more
genuinely surprising movie — more spontaneous and less complacent in its homage to the virtues of collective unity and individual difference.
This was number one on my «things to do before I die» list and it was
genuinely amazing to see the magnificent mountain gorillas in the wild, but the biggest
surprise was just how much other amazing wildlife we would also see, not to mention the
wonderful warm welcome.