The Shape of Water is not a bad film and definitely does not deserve to be ignored but it is not that good either. Something is simply missing. Guillermo del Toro, Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer and Richard Jenkins are all masters at their work and deserve all the respect. Direction is good and photography lush. The story itself however, is a romantic fairytale and does not go very deep, it could move and affect the viewers much more if done differently, the characters are pretty one-dimensional, we have the good girl, funny friend, another old funny friend and the villain. Throughout the film the story is trying to present many social issues and even though the film is set in the 1950's, many of the issues are still reflected in our society today. We have racism, sexism but the main thing that the film is trying to tell us is that it is important to accept and love anyone who is good, no matter how different they are. It is a beautiful message but it all feels a bit to forced, it could have been more subtle. The main problem is that the entire film feels like a big Oscar bait. It seems to have worked quite well. Another thing about the Oscar nominations, Michael Shannon should not have been left out. All performances are good but his especially stands out. Could have been really good and it is a shame since there is so much talent involved in the film.