10 Incredible 2017 Movie Characters

The greatest challenge a filmmaker can give themselves is a mute protagonist. Not only does it require a flawless understanding of visual storytelling to pull off, but a mute protagonist needs to connect with an audience without snappy dialogue or big monologues. Guillermo Del Toro, along with co-writer Vanessa Taylor and Sally Hawkins, managed to create one of the most endearing characters of the year in Elisa Esposito, a cleaning woman who falls in love with the creature from the Black Lagoon.

A cleaning lady for a government facility, Elisa is a woman who's used to being part of the scenery. She cannot speak, and her closest friend is a closeted gay artist who she watches old movies with. Throughout this 1962 set fairy tale, we see Elisa meet and fall for an amphibian man locked in a tank. Their wordless relationship is expressed entirely through gestures and sign language, and Hawkins conveys Elisa's growing feelings for the monster through every little glance she gives him.

Elisa is one of the most fully fleshed out characters of the year. Through her morning routine, we see her contentment, her loneliness, her longing, and her strength. The Shape of Water is a film built on her decisions, which may seem ludicrous from the outside, but to her and the audience, they make perfect sense. She's not only a woman in love, she's a women who lets love unlock her inner strength.