The bad: I couldn't escape the feeling the film assumes its audience is composed of idiots. The collection of set-ups, ludicrous and manipulative for the most part, all seemed designed, at least to me, to support a collection of social-justice lectures (criticizing the social injustices of the pre-Beatles era, even) lacking in any nuance or wit (this is sure to win it many awards in Hollywood this year). There's a way to get such messages across without grabbing a blowhorn and blasting it endlessly into your audience's ears, after all. It's called "subtlety," and it used to be a well-practiced art in Hollywood at one time. No longer, it seems.

The symbolism and character metaphors are very obvious and a bit overplayed (Elisa is mute, Zelda is black, Giles is gay, and Strickland is pure white 60s male American patriot), but that's also typical for del Toro's style. It's clearly about the outcasts vs the establishment.