Guillermo Del Toro’s Best Movie Is Streaming For Free Right Now
Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water is streaming for free (with ads) on Freevee.
There are so many great Guillermo del Toro films out there that it can be challenging to narrow down which one is the best of the best. But, if you were hard-pressed to choose, The Shape of Water might just be the complete package you’re looking for. If you missed this fantastic film when it was first released, or if you haven’t seen it in a while, you can now stream it for free (with ads) on Freevee.
The Shape of Water is pretty much everything that makes Guillermo del Toro a great filmmaker wrapped into one gorgeous movie. You have magical realism, a story with heart and tragedy, creative visuals, and everything else you could want out of a del Toro film. It also tells a great story with a top-notch cast.
The Shape of Water follows a mute janitor in the 1960s, who forms a relationship with the amphibious creature being held at the top-secrete research facility she works at. The film stars Sally Hawkins, Doug Jones, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Nick Searcy, David Hewlett, Nigel Bennett, Stewart Arnott, Lauren Lee Smith, Martin Roach, John Kapelos, Morgan Kelly, and Wendy Lyon. Guillermo del Toro directed and also co-wrote the screenplay with Vanessa Taylor.
Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water was critically lauded as a filmmaking masterpiece that was also a love letter to the Hollywood films of the Golden Age. He told a classic romance tale mixed with a classic monster movie, all shot with del Toro’s always beautiful visuals and knack for whimsy. The film holds an impressive 92% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes with 72% from audiences.
The Academy definitely agreed with the critics on The Shape of Water, as it ended up awarding the film a whopping 13 Oscar nominations and four Oscar wins. The Shape of Water was nominated for Best Production Design, Best Original Score, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Costume Design, Best Cinematography, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress for Octavia Spencer, Best Supporting Actor for Richard Jenkins, and Best Actress for Sally Hawkins. It ended up winning the awards for Best Production Design, Best Original Score, Best Director for Guillermo del Toro, and the always coveted Best Picture award.
The Shape of Water‘s Best Picture win made it only the second fantasy film to win the Best Picture Oscar after The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King won in 2003. Surprisingly, it’s also the only film that Guillermo del Toro has won an Oscar for. He has been nominated for films like Pan’s Labyrinth and Nightmare Alley, but The Shape of Water has been his only winner.
While Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water didn’t exactly break any massive records at the box office, it still did fairly well. The film ended up bringing in $63.9 million in the United States and Canada and $195.2 million globally. Those certainly aren’t small numbers for a fantasy film not based on an existing IP.
While Guillermo del Toro has only won Oscars for The Shape of Water, he’ll get another chance to grab some wins this year for his stop-motion animated film Pinocchio. The film is up for Best Animated Feature Film and could very well win, as it has been receiving heaps of critical praise. His Pinocchio retells the classic story and stars Gregory Mann, David Bradley, Ewan McGregor, Burn Gorman, Ron Perlman, John Turturro, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, Tim Blake Nelson, Christoph Waltz, and Tilda Swinton.
If you want to have a Guillermo del Toro double-feature of some of his best movies, you could check out The Shape of Water on Freevee and Pinocchio on Netflix. Both films are fantastic and have that signature del Toro touch. While del Toro has many incredible films, these two, along with Pan’s Labyrinth, are probably on the top of the stack.
In any case, you should definitely check out The Shape of Water while it’s still free to watch. It’s one of our greatest filmmakers operating at the top of his game, so it’s certainly not an experience to be missed. There aren’t too many people making films like del Toro, and just about everything he puts out is well worth the watch.
