Today at the Chicago International Film Festival: ‘The Shape of Water’

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Sally Hawkins and Doug Jones in “The Shape of Water.” | FOX SEARCHLIGHT

Guillermo del Toro (“Crimson Peak,” “The Devil’s Backbone,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”) concocts a captivating fable with an uncharacteristic romance. Elisa, a mute cleaning woman (Sally Hawkins) employed at a secret government laboratory, swoons over a nameless, amphibious, dual-lunged humanoid (Doug Jones). Strickland (Michael Shannon) captured him — dubbed a “monster” and deemed an “asset” — in the Amazon for a CIA/NASA scheme. Vivisection looms. Cold War and civil rights tensions, circa 1962, surface. Del Toro calls his sci-fi noir spy caper “an antidote to the cynicism of our times.” “The Shape of Water” is scheduled to return to Chicago for a December run. Closing night admission is $35 for a 7 p.m. tribute to Shannon prior to the 7:30 p.m. screening.

The Chicago International Film Festival concludes today at AMC River East 21, 322 E. Illinois.

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