Guillermo del Toro’s 'The Shape of Water' was a masterwork of gothic romance, a beautiful, empathetic fable about outsiders finding love. If its blend of monstrous beauty and heartfelt humanity captivated you, other directors are waiting to offer a similar
magic.
1. Jean-Pierre Jeunet
If you adored the romantic whimsy and meticulously crafted world of 'The Shape of Water', French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet is your perfect next stop. Like del Toro, Jeunet is a visual maximalist who builds unforgettable, hyper-stylized realities. His Paris in 'Amélie' is a dream-like explosion of greens and reds, a city brimming with quirky characters and small miracles. His earlier, darker films, made with Marc Caro, like 'Delicatessen' and 'The City of Lost Children', showcase a more grotesque, steampunk-inflected fantasy that feels like a cousin to del Toro's own gothic sensibilities. Both filmmakers share a love for intricate clockwork mechanics and a warm humanity that shines through even the most surreal stories, finding romance and humor in the strangest of places.
2. Bong Joon-ho
While the South Korean auteur may not traffic in supernatural romance, Bong Joon-ho shares del Toro's profound empathy for the underdog and his mastery of blending genres. 'The Shape of Water' is a story about marginalized people—a mute woman, a gay artist, a Black co-worker—uniting against a cruel, powerful establishment. This is the thematic heart of Bong's work. In 'The Host', a dysfunctional family battles a river monster and government incompetence. In 'Okja', a young girl fights a multinational corporation to save her giant super-pig. And in his Oscar-winning 'Parasite', a poor family's infiltration of a wealthy household is a tragicomedy about class warfare. Bong, like del Toro, uses monsters, thrillers, and dark comedy to explore deep social inequalities, creating films that are as emotionally resonant as they are thrilling.
3. Yorgos Lanthimos
For those drawn to the sheer strangeness of a woman falling for an amphibious man, the surreal fables of Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos will feel like a fascinating, if more acidic, discovery. His films are deadpan allegories that take societal pressures and stretch them to their most absurd conclusions. In 'The Lobster', single people are given 45 days to find a partner or be turned into an animal of their choosing—a darkly funny critique of relationship norms. In 'Poor Things', a woman with the brain of an infant goes on a journey of sexual and intellectual awakening, a bizarre spin on the Frankenstein story. Lanthimos’s worlds are rigid, his dialogue is stilted, and his characters are deeply awkward, but beneath the weirdness is a profound exploration of human connection, identity, and control that echoes the themes of del Toro's work.
4. Lynne Ramsay
If it was the quiet, poetic sadness of Sally Hawkins' Elisa that moved you, then the filmography of Scottish director Lynne Ramsay is essential viewing. Ramsay is a master of visual storytelling, often conveying more through a single, haunting image than pages of dialogue could. Her films are less about fantasy and more about the interior lives of isolated, often traumatized individuals. 'Morvern Callar' follows a young woman who reacts to her boyfriend's suicide in a strange, numbly detached way, while 'You Were Never Really Here' is a brutal, impressionistic thriller about a hitman rescuing a young girl. Ramsay’s focus on sensory details and the psychology of her outsider characters creates an intense, visceral experience that will resonate with anyone who appreciated the deep, unspoken emotions at the core of 'The Shape of Water'.
