I Kill Giants is not a fantasy movie. It’s a drama about fantasy: about the power of stories to help us understand our fears and cope with our anxieties and escape from our pain, at least for a little while. But in a rare creative conjunction, this movie is as thrillingly weird as its protagonist, 12-year-old Barbara Thorson (Madison Wolfe: The Conjuring 2, Joy). We have no doubt that there are no actual giants for her to kill, despite all her intense research and preparation for this task, and we know that her small Long Island coastal town is in no danger of being stomped on, as she keeps urgently insisting to the adults and kids around her. But we are as totally enrapt in Barbara’s obsession as she is. As Barbara herself likely understands — she’s far from stupid — we get that, no matter how wonderful and terrible Barbara’s own little world is, it’s all just an invention. But we also simultaneously share her joy in it, and the confidence boost that comes from feeling strong in body, mind, and spirit. Even if it’s just a delusion. (But it’s real. Giants are real. And they are coming. Why won’t anyone listen?)
Few movies about children and the brawn of their imaginations have ever captured this duality so beautifully. Even fewer films have centered a girl and her creative fancies, and her rage and her helplessness. I wish I had seen a movie like this when I was 8 or 9, or even 12. I think I would have clung on to Barbara and her exploits like a life raft.
Because we are so with Barbara and so complicit in her need to escape, we do not understand for a long while precisely what she is trying to deny about the reality of her life. We see that she is bullied at school — by, interestingly, a giant of a fellow student (Rory Jackson), who towers over Barbara — and has no friends because she’s such a weirdo. We know that her home life is a bit of a disaster, with a mean teen brother (Art Parkinson: Kubo and the Two Strings, San Andreas) and an adult sister (Imogen Poots: Frank & Lola, Green Room) who is frazzled between her demanding job and trying to take care of her siblings. We wonder if perhaps their mysteriously absent parents are at the root of Barbara’s pain, but it’s a distant notion.
Instead, we are far more concerned with whether her latest attempt at a potion to lure giants will be successful, whether her bike rides into the woods to test them will result in dangerous encounters with the creatures (or others; there are other monsters to be on the lookout for, too), and whether she will be able to convince new-kid-at-school Sophia (Sydney Wade: Sherlock, Doctor Who) of the truth of the danger from giants. We worry about Barbara’s meetings with the school psychologist, Mrs. Mollé (Zoe Saldana: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Live by Night), because while she seems nice, she’s maybe a bit too nice, you know, like she’s only humoring Barbara.
This is an ambitious and accomplished first feature from Danish director Anders Walter — his 2013 “Helium” won the Oscar for Best Live Action Short — and from screenwriter Joe Kelly, working from his acclaimed graphic novel of the same name (with artist J.M. Ken Niimura). It’s an absolute crime that it is not getting a wide release in either the US or the UK: this is a sensitive yet still rollicking adventure, one with beautiful and eerie visuals that deserve to be seen on a big screen. And its smart and complicated portrait of a child’s emotional turmoil is something that could genuinely help lots of kids, and lots of grownups understand kids better by reminding us of how confusing and miserable growing up can be. Barbara is a character who should be iconic, looming large in pop culture, not the niche cult figure she is destined to be.
Oh man, I thought this was coming out in theaters. Going to put that Amazon prime membership to good use I guess.
Depending on where you are, you might find it in a theater near(ish) to you.
So it’s a story about an adolescent in a difficult environment escaping into a fantasy world? Sounds like a good counterpoint to Ready, Player One.
In a broad thematic sense, the two films are similar. This one is infinitely better.
More like A Monster Calls than anything
Saw this over the weekend. It really is a shame this hasn’t received a US theatrical release. It’s quite a film.
Lots of online reviews angry about it “not being what was advertised” though. I guess some are reading “From the producers of Harry Potter” and expecting a conventional fantasy movie and it’s anything but. I didn’t expect any literal giant-killing but enjoyed it quite a lot.
It did get a theatrical release. An infinitesimally tiny one. Probably to satisfy some contractual obligation.
That IS a bullshit way to market a film, though. It’s deliberately misleading.
Absolutely wonderful film. Deeply affecting and I was a teary mess at the end. I especially loved how much time we are allowed to be with Barbara when she is on her own. This seems to hardly ever happen with girls or women in movies. Suppose there are lots of examples I’m forgetting, but whenever a film spends significant time with a woman or a girl by herself — when she’s NOT about to be murdered — it feels revelatory. After seeing this I went through the too-frequent practice of telling
people to ignore the dishonest marketing and please see it because it’s
brilliant. Watched initially through non-legal means, but the second it
finished I pre-ordered the blu-ray.
You’re right. Great observation.
I really, really enjoyed watching this movie. At first, I thought it was fantasy. But, as the movie roll along, the story of it as being a fantasy and drama played in my mind. It really make me curious to follow along as what the giants in the title are. In the end, giants are the fears and reality that we are afraid of. I like the way the story goes. It made me cry a little. But, I give this 5 out of 5 stars. I will watch this movie with my kids. It has lessons in it.
Sorry to bring up a 4 month old movie but I saw this over the weekend.
This was strange. One “giant” metaphor. Ha! I’m funny. Not.
Of course, it was obvious from the start that the whole movie was about
whatever the girl was dealing with manifesting as these creatures she
has to defeat.
We’ve seen far too many movies like this about boys and their problems, so it’s great to see a girl at the center of it all.
The movie takes way too long to tell us what’s up. And
never even addresses the father. Where is he? What happened to him? I
honestly thought the whole thing was about Dad, not Mom, due to the
whole baseball thing. I still don’t get why a 12 year old(I think? they
never tell us) would even know who some long ago player named Covaleski
is. Why would she be listening to old radio shows of ball games? That
just seems really odd. It fees shoehorned in to work with the overall metaphor.
Perhaps if the story explained it it would work better.
The least it could do is tell us the family dynamic early on. The older sister confused me for a while because we weren’t told who she was.
I understand the girls actions to an extent, but she’s still an asshat at times, and mean to people who genuinely want to help. She needs to do an apology tour
after the events that go on.
I don’t buy that her new friend would actually go to the cliche evil bully girl for “help” or whatever.
Everyone deals with love and loss in their own way, but violence is
never acceptable. Several kids should be in Juvie jail after this. Or at least in some serious counseling. Or both.
I know I’m being rather critical of a movie that I still got and somewhat
enjoyed.
A few tweaks could have resulted in a much better film.
I could write a lengthy response and touch on each point, but I will take a second to explain the Coveleski bit. Near the end of the film, Barbara’s friend listens to the tape in the little basement tent. On it, what sounds like an old radio broadcast is actually Barbara and her mom. They made a recording pretending to be announcers for a game in which Coveleski is the Phillies’ savior against the NY Giants. I shouldn’t have to expand any further on how this explains Barbara’s delusions.
And judging by the Phillies’ jacket that Barbara is wearing at the end, it’s fair to assume that her mom was a big baseball fan. I think that jacket was her mom’s.
Another bit: it’s also safe to assume that the father is either dead or left the family. I’m guessing he passed away, and probably early in the son’s life, judging buy how much of an ass he is. Maybe the mother loves baseball because her husband did. Regardless, his impact on the family does not require explaining. Barbara is dealing with her mother’s illness. That’s all we need to know.