'The Shape of Water' wins Oscar for best picture

The 90th Academy Awards have come to an end, where 'Shape of Water' was awarded the best picture Oscar.

In what had been considered the closest Oscar race in many years, the Guillermo del Toro directorial defeated strong competition from 'Get Out,' 'Lady Bird' and 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.'

"I want to dedicate this, to every young filmmaker, the youth that is showing us how things are done. Really, they are. In every country in the world," the 53-year-old helmer said.

The cold war-set fantasy thriller stars Sally Hawkins as a mute cleaning woman who discovers a bizarre aquatic-human hybrid in a tank at a secret government lab, and helps it escape.

The flick led to the Mexican filmmaker's first Oscar nod for best picture - though Del Toro was also nominated in 2007 for best original screenplay and best foreign language film for 'Pan's Labyrinth.'

Having led the nominations list with 13, 'The Shape of Water' won four Oscars, including best original score, director and best original design.

The film managed to bag an Oscar despite it being the subject of a plagiarism controversy in recent weeks,.

After the nominations were announced, the family of late playwright Paul Zindel launched legal action over "glaring similarities" between 'The Shape of Water' and Zindel's 1969 play 'Let Me Hear You Whisper.