[ronriii]

With regards to the dynamic of the Amphibian Man and the protagonist, Elisa, I actually think that the specific gender choice for the two is what made the movie. The story it was telling only really worked if you keep the specific gender dynamic in mind, and this is even more apparent when you account for the sort of societal hardships that Elisa faces throughout the story, even more obviously with how she's framed against the main antagonist played by Michael Shannon.

I'm not saying the story would've been better/worse, rather it wouldn't be the same story at all had the genders been swapped, since it told a very specific story that carefully accounts for their respective genders.