Honestly, trailers usually suck. They’re loud, they give away the entire third act, and they use that same "BWAHM" sound effect we've heard since Inception. But when The Shape of Water movie trailer dropped back in 2017, it felt... different. It didn't feel like a sales pitch. It felt like someone had cracked open a jewelry box and let a bunch of damp, green velvet out into the world.
Guillermo del Toro has this weird superpower where he makes the gross feel gorgeous. You’re looking at a scale-covered fish-man from the Amazon, and somehow, through the lens of that first teaser, you aren't thinking about Creature from the Black Lagoon horror tropes. You're thinking about eggs. You're thinking about silent films. You're thinking about how lonely it must be to work the night shift in a high-security government lab during the Cold War.
The Cold War Vibe Everyone Misses
Most people remember the romance. That's fine. It's a "fish-man meets girl" story. But the trailer was a masterclass in setting up the 1962 aesthetic without making it look like a cheesy period piece. It grounded the fantasy.
Everything in those two minutes is drenched in "teal and orange," but not the Michael Bay kind. It's more like a bruised lung. You see Sally Hawkins as Elisa Esposito, scrubbing floors. You see Octavia Spencer—who, let’s be real, is the heartbeat of the movie—looking skeptical. The trailer does this brilliant thing where it contrast the mundane reality of mop buckets and bus rides with the high-stakes paranoia of the Space Race. Michael Shannon shows up looking like he wants to punch the moon. It’s intense.
Why The Shape of Water Movie Trailer Actually Worked
It’s about the rhythm. Alexandre Desplat’s score is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. It’s whimsical but has this underlying heartbeat of anxiety.
If you watch it again, pay attention to the silence.
The trailer introduces Elisa as a mute character without making it a "gimmick." We see her communicate through sign language and her expressions. It's a bold move for a marketing team. Usually, they want big snappy one-liners. Here, they gave us a woman eating a hard-boiled egg on a rainy bus. It shouldn't work for a blockbuster, yet it was the exact reason the film went on to win Best Picture. It promised an emotional intelligence that most sci-fi trailers just ignore.
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The Creature Reveal
They didn't hide the monster. That's a huge pivot from the Jaws school of marketing.
By the halfway point of The Shape of Water movie trailer, you’ve seen the Asset. You’ve seen the shackles. You’ve seen the glow of the water. Del Toro and Fox Searchlight knew that the "mystery" wasn't what the creature looked like—Doug Jones is a legend, and his silhouette is unmistakable—but rather how a human could find a soul in something so alien. The trailer highlights the touch. The hand on the glass. It’s classic "Beauty and the Beast" stuff, but with way more slime and government conspiracies.
Breaking Down the Visual Language
There’s a specific shot in the trailer where water is leaking through a floorboard. It’s simple. It’s probably a nightmare for a landlord. But in the context of del Toro’s world, it signifies the breaking of boundaries.
- The dry world: Rules, Shannon’s electric cattle prod, clocks ticking, rigid schedules.
- The wet world: Freedom, music, silence, connection.
The trailer sets up this binary perfectly. You’ve got the harsh, fluorescent lights of the Occam Aerospace Research Center clashing with the warm, amber glow of the cinema where Elisa lives. It’s visual storytelling 101, but executed at a PhD level.
The Michael Shannon Factor
We need to talk about Richard Strickland. In the trailer, Michael Shannon is the personification of 1960s toxic masculinity and American exceptionalism. He’s holding a sandwich. He’s talking about "the Asset." He’s terrifying because he’s so certain he’s the hero of the story.
The trailer manages to position him as the true "monster" without him ever growing scales. It’s a subtle bit of editing. You see his aggression, his polished shoes, and his disdain for anything he can't control. It sets the stakes: Elisa isn't just trying to save a friend; she's fighting a system that sees anything "different" as a tool or a threat.
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What People Got Wrong Back Then
When the trailer first hit YouTube, the comments were a mess. Half the people thought it was a secret prequel to Hellboy (because of Abe Sapien, obviously). The other half thought it was "too weird" to ever go mainstream.
It’s funny looking back.
The "weirdness" is exactly what the Academy loved. The trailer didn't shy away from the fact that this is a movie about a woman who falls in love with an amphibian man. It leaned into the fairy tale aspect. It used a quote from del Toro about the power of water—how it has no shape, yet takes the shape of whatever it inhabits. That’s some deep stuff for a movie promo.
The Legacy of a Two-Minute Clip
Movies live or die by their first impressions. The Shape of Water movie trailer didn't just sell a movie; it sold an atmosphere. It told the audience, "Hey, it’s okay to be a little strange." It reached out to the outsiders.
It also reminded us that Doug Jones is an absolute treasure. The way he moves—the twitch of the shoulder, the tilt of the head—is visible even in the quick cuts of the teaser. He brings a physical vulnerability to the role that transcends the heavy prosthetics.
Key Moments to Re-watch
- The underwater opening: It’s ethereal and sets the "dream" tone immediately.
- The "You'll never know" sign language scene: It’s the emotional hook that makes the movie feel grounded.
- The green pie: It’s such a weird, specific detail that adds to the "vintage" vibe.
- The bathroom flooding: This is the moment the trailer transitions from a drama to a full-blown fantasy epic.
The Technical Mastery Behind the Scenes
Dan Laustsen, the cinematographer, deserves a shout-out here. The trailer showcases his ability to make shadows feel like they have weight. He uses a lot of "single-source" lighting, which gives the footage that classic film noir look. It’s not just "dark"—it’s textured. You can almost smell the dampness of the concrete.
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And the editing? It’s snappy. It uses the sound of a ticking clock or a heartbeat to transition between scenes. This creates a sense of urgency. The Cold War was a "ticking clock" era, and the trailer mimics that anxiety perfectly.
Why You Should Care Now
In an era of CGI-heavy, soul-less blockbusters, looking back at this trailer is a reminder of what’s possible. It shows that you can market a "weird" idea if you lead with heart. It proved that there is a massive audience for "adult fairy tales."
If you're a filmmaker or a creator, there’s a lot to learn here. Don't hide your weirdest elements. Lean into them. Use them as your USP (Unique Selling Proposition). People are tired of the same old tropes. They want to see a woman teaching an ancient river god how to eat a hard-boiled egg.
Final Practical Takeaways
If you’re revisiting the film or watching the trailer for the first time, keep these things in mind to get the most out of the experience:
- Watch the color palette: Notice how the color green evolves. It starts as something sickly and "institutional" and turns into something lush and "natural."
- Listen to the Foley: The sound design in the trailer—the clinking of keys, the splashing of water—is intentionally heightened to make the world feel more tactile.
- Ignore the "Monster Movie" labels: This isn't a horror flick. It’s a romance wrapped in a spy thriller. If you go in expecting Godzilla, you’ll be disappointed. If you go in expecting Amélie with gills, you’ll love it.
- Check out the "making of" shorts: Once you've watched the trailer, look up how they built the suit. It’s all practical effects, which is why it still looks better than most $200 million movies today.
Stop scrolling through Netflix for something new and go back to the classics of the late 2010s. Start with the trailer. It’s a perfect two-minute masterclass in how to build a world that feels both impossible and completely real.
Next Steps for Film Fans:
Go find the original theatrical teaser on YouTube and pay attention to the sound mixing. Then, watch the "Red Band" version to see how they handled the more mature themes. It’s a fascinating study in how different edits can change the "vibe" of the exact same story. After that, look up Doug Jones' interviews about the movement training he did for the role; it’ll change how you see every frame of that creature.