Compared to Venice or Toronto, its a small town.
But its importance shouldnt be taken lightly.
When Telluridepicks its slate, Oscar voters listen.
Kerry Hayes/20th Century Fox Film
Early buzz coming out of Venice this past weekwas rapturous.
NeitherPacific RimnorCrimson Peakreally did it for me.
I might even have to go all the way back toPans Labyrinth, and that was a decade ago.
A24
The good news isThe Shape of Waterdoesnt disappoint.
Its pure movie magic weird and wonderful.
And the movie, which is very adult, has a childlike sense of wonder and fantasy.
Melinda Sue Gordon/Twentieth Century Fox
A gonzo Michael Shannon (is there any other kind?)
is the creatures sadistic jailer.
Michael Stuhlbarg is the scientist whos sympathetic to it.
But not as sympathetic as Elisa, who forms an unlikely intimacy with it.
If it sounds bizarre, well, it is.
But its also poignant, tender, funny, romantic, and just breathtaking in its shoot-the-moon ambition.
Theres even a Busby Berkeley dance sequence!
And Hawkins is just amazing.
But the performances are all aces.
Shes just a teenager trying to figure that all out.
And who cant relate to that?
Every important point about equal rights or Kings struggle with her then-closeted sexuality feels too on the nose.
