It's been four hours of tears, drama and joy - and now the biggie of the night has finally been revealed.

The Shape of Water has been crowned Best Picture at the Academy Awards 2018.

Directed by Guillermo del Toro's (perhaps best known for Pans Labyrinth), and starring Sally Hawkins, it takes the top prize of the night.

The film defeated strong competition from Get Out, Lady Bird and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri in one of the closest Oscar race in many years.

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'The greatest thing art does, our industry does, is to erase the lines in the sand - we should continue doing that - when the world tells us to make them deeper,' Del Toro said as he accepted the award.

The film received 13 nominations for this year's Oscars, and won four Oscars on Sunday night.

Set in the cold war, Sally Hawkins stars as a mute cleaning woman who discovers an aquatic-human hybrid in a tank at a secret government lab, and helps it escape.

Del Toro also won for best director. After picking up the Directors Guild of America Award last month, he was favoured to win. He received Academy Awards nominations in 2007 for Pan's Labyrinth but this was the first time he was nominated in the directing category.

The Shape of Water was hit with a plagiarism lawsuit last month that alleged its plot was lifted directly from a 1969 American stage play.

Del Toro, who also wrote the screenplay, said he had never seen or read the play.

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Louise Donovan
Deputy Digital Editor
Louise Donovan is the Deputy Digital Editor at ELLE UK, with a focus on international women's rights, global development and human interest stories. She's reported from countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.