The Shape of Water
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Synopsis
Cinema’s great modern mythmaker Guillermo del Toro uses the hallmarks of classic horror and fantasy to tell a strange and sublime fable about outsiderhood, connection, and love’s transcendence. An ineffably touching Sally Hawkins plays Elisa, a mute janitor at a top-secret government laboratory who finds herself drawn to the facility’s newest research subject: a humanoid amphibian—for whom she is soon risking everything, amid the stifling conformity of 1960s America. A triumph of visual imagination that combines elements of sci-fi, noir, and the golden-age musical, this swooning cinematic dreamscape—winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director—is a monster movie with a human heart.
Picture 9/10
The Criterion Collection presents Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water on 4K UHD in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, featuring HDR10 and a 2160p/24hz ultra high-definition encode on a triple-layer disc. A standard dual-layer Blu-ray is also included, offering a 1080p presentation of the film alongside all the release’s special features.
Unsurprisingly, The Shape of Water looks terrific in this 4K presentation, as one would hope for a film so recent. Though shot digitally and finished in 2K—making this technically a 4K upscale—the presentation offers remarkable detail and clarity, with no apparent limitations due to its 2K origins. Intricate textures, from the amphibian creature’s design to the film’s richly detailed settings (like Elisa’s worn-down apartment, the mod-styled diner, and the clinical Occam Labs), are rendered beautifully.
Colors are vibrant and well-saturated, with green dominating the palette (representing the "future" according to del Toro in the features), from muted tones to electric hues. The “nuclear” green glow of the key lime pie and the neon lighting in certain sequences are standouts. Reds, such as Elisa’s jacket and occasional splashes of blood, also add a nice pop as well as wonderful contrast from the heavier greens. HDR10 also significantly enhances the dynamic range, handling highlights and shadows with finesse while amping up those other colors. Transitions from light to dark are smooth, and the use of shadow throughout is striking, with HDR elevating the cinematic feeling compared to the Blu-ray presentation.
The digital source lends the film a subtle, polished sheen that suits its fantastical tone, though this occasionally gives a handful of shots a slightly waxy appearance (limited primarily to when Michael Stuhlbarg's character is meeting his handlers), likely inherent to the original photography. Black levels are deep and inky, preserving shadow detail without any noticeable crushing, while highlights are clean and free of the blocky artifacts that occasionally appear in some of Criterion's 4K releases.
A few mild instances of banding are noticeable during fade-ins and fade-outs, though they’re rare and unobtrusive. Whether this stems from the digital photography, the upscale process, the master provided by Disney/Fox, or Criterion’s encode is unclear. Fortunately, these moments are few and far between, and don’t detract from the overall presentation.
I haven’t seen Fox’s 4K edition, so I can’t compare the two directly (notably, Criterion’s BD-100 disc offers a higher capacity than Fox’s BD-66), but Criterion’s delivers a wonderful presentation and a solid 4K upscale.
Audio 9/10
Criterion includes a DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround soundtrack. Dialogue is primarily focused across the front channels, coming through clear and articulate, while Alexandre Desplat’s playful and dynamic score is beautifully spread across the surrounds, wonderfully enveloping the viewer.
The mix also does a wonderful job in integrating ambient sound effects, helping to place the viewer directly into the film’s world. Subtle background noises—like the echoes of activity in the lab or movie theater—are layered seamlessly into the surround channels. The underwater sequences are particularly effective, placing the viewer right in the middle of the action with an effective spatial quality.
Fidelity is excellent across the board, with no signs of distortion or heavy filtering. It's wonderfully immersive and suits the film perfectly.
Extras 6/10
With Criterion securing The Shape of Water from Disney, I expected a lavish collection of new features to accompany the film, but unfortunately, that’s not the case. Criterion merely ports over all of Fox’s previous supplements, adding only a single new interview, all of which are found on the standard Blu-ray disc.
The lone new feature is a 26-minute conversation between filmmakers Guillermo del Toro and David Lowery. The two discuss the fairy tale elements in their respective works before delving into The Shape of Water, covering its influences and production. Del Toro reveals that the project’s seeds were planted during his talks with Universal about a Creature from the Black Lagoon remake, where he humorously proposed that the creature and heroine would “get it on,” a pitch that ultimately went nowhere (unsurprisingly). He elaborates on finding the right tonal balance between the film’s fantastical elements and its period setting, ensuring the 1960s feel authentic but not overly realistic. Del Toro also reflects on the film’s technical aspects, and expresses his admiration for the cast, particularly Doug Jones’ performance as the amphibian creature. While insightful, the interview feels too brief, leaving one wanting more of del Toro’s engaging reflections.
The remaining studio-produced features take a broader, surface-level approach, though they still contain some interesting technical details. The 29-minute, 4-part documentary A Fairy Tale for Troubled Times touches on various aspects of the production, including the design and application of Doug Jones’ make-up (which was engineered for efficiency), the use of color, the richly detailed production design, and Alexandre Desplat’s score.
Two Anatomy of a Scene featurettes, running 3 and 5 minutes, explore the prologue and the black-and-white dance sequence, respectively. These sequences feature del Toro narrating over the scenes in question, offering fascinating insights into their thematic significance and how they were ultimately executed. Notably, the prologue’s underwater effect was achieved practically rather than relying entirely on CGI. However, the brevity of these segments leaves much to be desired, particularly for those curious about the technical processes behind the scenes.
Other features include a 5-minute segment with illustrator James Jean discussing his promotional artwork for the film and 13 minutes of footage from a Master Class with del Toro, showcasing concept art and maquettes used to develop the creature’s look. The disc wraps up with the film’s trailers.
Sadly, the set lacks new interviews with the cast or additional crew members, and Criterion hasn’t added any academic material beyond the included essay, which positions the film within del Toro’s body of work as one of his “meticulously crafted films about imperfect outsiders” while exploring its alignment with the political and cultural climate of its release. Ultimately, what's here is certainly worth going through, but I'm really surprised they bothered to go after this at all.
Closing
The supplements prove especially disappointing, offering little beyond what Fox’s previous release included, with only a single new feature added. However, the presentation is stellar, and for those who haven’t yet picked up the Fox disc, this edition is absolutely worth pursuing.
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