The movie 'Colossal', an indie movie that mixed comedy, drama, and fiction, was part of the Official Selection at SXSW 2017 in the categories of fantasy, screening section of the festival, and favorites. Colossal was also part of the Official selection from Toronto International Film Festival 2016, Fantastic Fest 2016, and Sundance Film Festival 2017.
The run time of the movie is 110 minutes, for all ages, and was written & directed by the Spaniard Nacho Vigalondo. The film has a captivating cast starring Anne Hathaway & Jason Sudeikis. Colossal will open in theaters on April 7, 2017, in NY/LA
Poster Colossal. Courtesy of She is Colossal
The Plot of the Movie:
Gloria (Anne Hathaway) is an out-of-work party girl who has relationship issues due to frequent drinking, and after being kicked out of the apartment of her boyfriend (Dan Stevens) where she lives in NY, she is forced to move back to her small hometown. She reconnects with childhood friend Oscar (Jason Sudeikis) who owns a bar and offers her a part-time job there. Oscar has his pals (Tim Blake Nelson and Austin Stowell) reunite to drink each night and they include Gloria. She increases her addiction to heavy drinking and one day as the news reports surface that a giant creature is destroying Seoul, South Korea, everyone panics while watching the news that night in the bar. All of a sudden while watching the news, Gloria comes to the realization that the monster has the same exact moves she did in the morning when she spent the night sleeping on a bench in her childhood playground after passing out from excess drinking. She wakes up from and stretches in the middle of the playground with some particular moves, and she becomes terrified because she realizes she has a connection to this far-off phenomenon because the monster in South Korea made exactly the same moves as hers during the last attack. As the events begin to spin out of control, Gloria must determine why her seemingly insignificant existence has such a colossal effect on the fate of the world. Oscar later proves that she is, in fact, the avatar who makes the monster move equally in Korea. Oscar then joins the fray and becomes a second and even more powerful avatar, but instead of a monster, he is more like a robot and creates a hostility and competition between them.
Photo Courtesy of She is Colossal
Photo Courtesy of She is Colossal
Photo Courtesy of She is Colossal
Review
The movie is very metaphoric about how excessive alcohol use can endanger society in general and eventually make people more susceptible to accidents and not only endanger their life but the life of others. Gloria finally comes to the conclusion that her actions hurt people directly because whenever she walks on the playground at a certain time of a day, the giant monster appears in the city of Seoul and matches her moves, damaging the city, and killing hundreds in the process. It sounds crazy, but this is the metaphor of the movie. She realizes she needs to stop her self-destruction and her inner monster in order to save herself and the world.
There are people who become abominable monsters after drinking a large amount of alcohol either alone or in a social environment and have frequent blackouts as well as entirely forgetting a conversation and even sexual intercourse while intoxicated and even pass out after boozing all night. Gloria has the behavior of an alcoholic, she forgets entire conversations on a regular basis, passes out on the floor, and wakes up stiff and in pain and she finds herself wandering around her childhood playground in the morning. Alcoholism is a serious problem that can have a dramatic impact in someone’s life. The movie gives it some aftermath judgment and subsequently leaves the audience with some questioning such as Do you or you know someone who's a monster when you or he/she is drunk? How many things has one destroyed from being an alcoholic or even to acknowledge yourself as an alcoholic?
Photo Courtesy of She is Colossal
Vigalondo pictures this despicable monster and it’s symbolized as a kaiju monster movies from Japan. The inner or internal monster of Gloria. Gloria learns in a terrible and surprising way the scale of her mistakes. And she discovers that in order to solve her problems she will have to grow and save herself. The writer-director tells the story wisely combining and coordinating the human and monster elements working in alignment. Gloria who is human has a giant avatar very far away who copies her movements and actions mostly when she is drunk. Gloria fights her self-destruction and learns how to shatter the monster, by not drinking anymore. She was her own enemy, but by taking control she puts her life back together. Great lessons to learn in Colossal! Enjoy with the whole family and pay attention.
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