What makes The Shape of Water great and worthy of awards is not its groundbreaking originality.
The film is very much a classic Beauty and the Beast tale meets Creature from the Black Lagoon.
It succeeds because of how well its story is told, how emotionally acted and lovingly crafted.
It is at its heart a fairy tale, and fairy tales are not known for their originality, they are meant to simply tell a universal story or teach a lesson.