Fairy tales were born in times of trouble, in complicated times – when hope felt lost. I made The Shape of Water as an antidote to cynicism. For it seems to me that when we speak of love – when we believe in love – we do so in a hopeless way. We fear looking naive and even disingenuous. But Love is real – absolutely real – and, like water, it is the most gentle and most powerful force in the Universe. It is free and formless until it pours into its recipient, until we let it in. Our eyes are blind. But our soul is not. It recognizes love in whatever shape it comes to us.