WHO’S IN IT?
Sally Hawkins (Paddington), Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals), Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures), Doug Jones (Pan’s Labyrinth), Michael Stuhlbarg (Call Me By Your Name), Lauren Lee Smith (The Last Kiss), Nick Searcy (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), David Hewlett (Rise of the Planet of the Apes)
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth), director, writer, producer; Vanessa Taylor (Hope Springs), writer; J. Miles Dale (Mama), producer; Alexandre Desplat (The Imitation Game), composer; Dan Laustsen (Crimson Peak), cinematographer; Sidney Wolinsky (Not Fade Away), editor
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
In the early 1960s, a mute woman named Elisa (Hawkins) works a lowly job as a janitor at a secret government facility, where she comes across the building’s newest and most valuable asset: an amphibian creature with humanoid features (Jones). Slowly but surely, she forms a special bond with the creature, and after witnessing its cruel treatment at the hands of Colonel Richard Strickland (Shannon), she enlists the help of her two closest friends – her closeted artist neighbour Miles (Jenkins), and her co-worker Zelda (Spencer) – to rescue him from further harm…
IN ONE SENTENCE, WHY SHOULD YOU BE EXCITED?
Guillermo del Toro’s latest movie is an absolute triumph of craftsmanship and storytelling, and should not only give him plenty of deserved awards attention, but should also serve as the perfect – and most unlikely – Valentine’s Day movie to take your loved one to.
