The Shape of Water

Synopsis: Elisa is a mute, isolated woman who works as a cleaning lady in a hidden, high-security government laboratory in 1962 Baltimore. Her life changes forever when she discovers the lab's classified secret -- a mysterious, scaled creature from South America that lives in a water tank. As Elisa develops a unique bond with her new friend, she soon learns that its fate and very survival lies in the hands of a hostile government agent and a marine biologist.
Production: Fox Searchlight Pictures
  Won 4 Oscars. Another 101 wins & 293 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.4
Metacritic:
87
Rotten Tomatoes:
92%
R
Year:
2017
123 min
$57,393,976
Website
11,080 Views


FADE IN:

1 INT. ELISA’S APARTMENT / RIVER FOOTAGE - NIGHT 1

We float at the bottom of a river. Surrounded by water.

Fish swim away. Debris floating in the water-

And, then, a lamp floats by-

A coffee pot-

A shoe.

GILES / NARRATOR

If I spoke about it-If I did- what

would I tell you, I wonder? Would I

tell you about the time...? It

happened a long time ago- in the

last days of a fair Prince’s

reign... Or would I tell you about

the place? A small city near the

coast but far from everything

else... Or would I tell you about

her? The princess without voice...

(beat)

Or perhaps I would just warn you of

the about the truth of these facts

and the tale of love and loss and

the monster that tried to destroy

it all...

Camera pushes and we see: An entire apartment underwater.

Objects and furniture float, gently suspended, defying

gravity.

Asleep on/above her bed --half floating, half weighed down:

ELISA. Roughly 30, but ageless, with child-like eyes, dark,

lush hair and a thin, beautiful mouth slightly curved into asatisfied smile.

She slowly settles/drifts down on the mattress below as an

early digital alarm clock lazily floats over a night table

nearby...

SUDDENLY:
The alarm goes off!

10:
45PM

-Elisa opens her eyes. Lifts the mask, looks around: No water

at all.

Slowly, she gets up. An ambulance red light brieflyilluminates the apartment, its siren fading rapidly.

Barefoot, she heads to the bathroom: We see that light is

emanating from her FLOORBOARDS.

Music and dialogue leaks up through the floorboards too.

She readies the bathtub

DIALOGUE:

“... No God could be pleased withthe death of a child at the

altar...”

Camera goes through floor into

1B INT. CINEMA - SAME 1B

-the ornate ceiling- and into-

The cinema:
The STORY OF RUTH plays to an-

-almost empty theater- One patron or two are asleep.

TITLE:
THE SHAPE OF WATER.

1C INT. ELISA’S APARTMENT - SAME 1C

Elisa drops

three eggs into a pot of boiling water and heads for thebathroom. On the way there- she picks up an egg timer and

casually winds it.

2 INT. ELISA’S BATHROOM 2

She disrobes- Revealing: On both sides of her neck: two

keloid scars, diagonal and about three inches long.

DIALOGUE:

“...Who’s the man?”

(beat)

Mahlon, the Judean artisan...”

The voices from below continue as she steps into the bathtub:

Water overflows and hits the tiled floor.

She sinks in. A deep sigh.

She sets the egg timer to TWO MINUTES.

3

She sighs. Then rubs her hand with soap, plants her two feeton the base of the tub, sighs again and goes to work on

herself, gently, slowly-

but with the timer ticking awayShe’s

almost there when the timer DINGS.

3 INT. KITCHEN, ELISA’S APARTMENT - SAME

A WALL CLOCK- its minute hand slides into position- TACK!:

10:
55 PM.

3

Elisa rips off a leaf from a wall calendar and opens a

window, letting the fresh air in. Her hair is wet and she

nervously looks at the clock on the wall.

The Calendar leaf back reads: “Time is but a river flowing

from our past.”

CLACK! 11:
00 PM

Elisa stares at a WALL OF SHOES. Chooses a GREEN PAIR.

Shines them, quietly- alone- at the table. Puts them on.

Another siren goes by.

CLACK! 11:
01 PM

She takes out 3 hardboiled eggs-still steaming- out of a

pot. Uses the calendar sheet to pack one, plus saltines and a

small mustard and a half pickle sandwich on a paper bag.

Two eggs and a half sandwich go onto a small plate.

She undoes the three locks on her door (light & musicintensifies still emanating from the floorboards) and4

INT. APARTMENT CORRIDOR - NIGHT 4

-exits her apartment. We see the “shadowing” of old brass

letters -some are still there- they read “DELIVERIES”

She goes to the door directly across from hers (similar sign:

“PROCESSING”). A TV can be heard inside.

She uses a key to let herself in.

5 INT. GILES APARTMENT - NIGHT 5 INT. GILES APARTMENT - NIGHT 5

Full of books. ENTIRELY full of them. Here and there are half-

finished illustrations. Large original art fromADVERTISEMENTS. Two cats- SNOWFLAKE and LILLIE stroll lazily.

GILES:

(over sirens)

Did the sirens wake you up?

Hard at work at a drawing table-is GILES: late 60’s, refined

and prim:
wool vest, bow tie and tortoiseshell glasses. Whenhe speaks he has a ever-so-slight stutter (which gets worsewhen he gets nervous).

GILES (CONT’D)

It’s a fire. The chocolate factory.

It rained a little - not enough to

put it out... Rains are late this

year... You smell that? Toasted

cocoa. Tragedy and delight- hand in

hand...

Giles is coloring an illustration of a happy family around aBRIGHT RED JELL-O MOLD. A sign reads: THE FUTURE IS HERE!!

On his forehead:
THREE pairs of eyeglasses. He raises one and

lowers another one- grabs a brush. We see a toupee resting on

top of an acrylic paint box.

Elisa puts the eggs and carrot down on a side table. He

caresses/taps her cheek.

GILES (CONT’D)

Oh, Darling child. I’d waste away

to nothing without you looking

after me. I am the proverbial

starving artist am I not?

Shirley Temple dances on the stairs with Bojangles on “The

Little Colonel”.

GILES (CONT’D)

Oh- watch that- Bojangles- the

stair dance.

He slides his chair to see better.

GILES (CONT'D)

Will you look at that? Very hard to

do. Cagney did it- different- but

beautiful- we should watch that one

day...

Elisa looks at the TV. Does a few tap steps. Sirens go by.

GILES (CONT’D)

Elisa:
Wake me up when you come

Rate this script:4.5 / 2 votes

Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro Gómez (born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican film director, screenwriter, producer, and novelist. In his filmmaking career, del Toro has alternated between Spanish-language dark fantasy pieces, such as the gothic horror films The Devil's Backbone (2001) and Pan's Labyrinth (2006), and more mainstream American action films, such as the vampire superhero action film Blade II (2002), the supernatural superhero film Hellboy (2004), its sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), Trollhunters (2016) and the science fiction monster film Pacific Rim (2013). His 2017 fantasy film The Shape of Water received critical acclaim and won a Golden Lion at the 74th Venice International Film Festival as well as the Academy Award for Best Picture. more…

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