With one of the most exciting lineups of nominated films in years, it’s perhaps slightly disappointing that the 2018 Academy Awards was an extremely predictable affair. While there were a few surprises, the biggest night in movies went largely as expected.

The acting awards were particularly unsurprising, as all the frontrunners going into the show had an Oscar in hand by the time the night was over. Long time industry favorites Sam Rockwell (“Moon”) and Allison Janney (“The West Wing”) took home their first career Oscars for their supporting roles in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and “I, Tonya”, respectively, beating out strong performances from the likes of Willem Dafoe (“The Florida Project”) and Laurie Metcalf (“Lady Bird”). In the leading performance awards, Frances McDormand (“Fargo”) and Gary Oldman (“Dracula”) snagged wins to no one’s surprise. Both of these victories attracted considerable online buzz as McDormand gave a fiery speech championing inclusivity in the industry, while Oldman’s win was shrouded in controversy over not only whether or not he was actually deserving of the award, but also over the resurfacing of domestic violence allegations against him. His win marks the second year in a row an alleged abuser has taken home the Best Actor award, as Casey Affleck, in light of sexual harassment claims against him,   faced heavy scrutiny after his win at the previous awards.

One welcome surprise came with a Best Original Screenplay win for Jordan Peele (“Key & Peele”) for his smash horror hit “Get Out”. With his win, Peele became the first black screenwriter in history to receive the award. While not exactly surprising, another notable win came for much adored cinematographer Roger Deakins (“Skyfall”), who finally nabbed an Oscar for “Blade Runner 2049” after 14 nominations and no wins.

The big wins of the night came for Guillermo del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth”), whose illustrious career of bringing the strange to life paid off with “The Shape of Water”, which earned him a long overdue Oscar for Best Director as well the highly coveted award for Best Picture. The film seemed destined for the award after it earned a near record 13 nominations (also winning for Production Design and Original Score), despite the highly competitive nature of the category this year. While many were rooting for the originality and impact of “Lady Bird” and “Get Out” or the technical prowess of “Dunkirk”, “The Shape of Water” ultimately won out in light of del Toro’s masterful command of emotion, social awareness and insatiable imagination coming together to create the sort of audience pleasing, uplifting fantasy the Academy adores. While it may feel like a safe choice in some respects, it’s vital to note the importance of a Mexican director working with a diverse cast (the film is the first female-led film to win Best Picture in 13 years) to create a hopeful plea to battle cynicism and allow oneself to love and create without shame. The Oscars and film in general are an invitation for this unabashed creativity, and “The Shape of Water” represents that holistically. As del Toro himself said in his acceptance speech, “This is a door; kick it open and come in.”