I Kill Giants

Plot: Troubled teen Barbara (Madison Wolfe) prepares each afternoon to battle giants with homemade traps and a battle axe, named Coveleski. At school she gets picked on, in part because she always wears halloween-style rabbit ears. Counselor Mrs Molle (Zoe Saldana) tries to talk to Barbara, but Barbara doesn't want help. Sophia (Sydney Wade), Barbara's sister, tries to look after her at home but Sophia is young herself and has to work to support them. The neighbor girl, Karen (Imogen Poots), sees how eccentric Barbara is, learns about her plans to fight them. At the very end, there is a big twist.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: I Kill Giants is always interesting. It is a really strange tale. Early on, it is ambiguous about whether there really are giants coming as in a Harry Potter movie. It is clear Barbara is troubled, but perhaps also clued-in about the coming giant apocalypse. Barbara is so plucky and self-assured that she preservers. Her determination and her pain are her endearing qualities.

I liked the dialog, and I liked Madison's performance. 

Cast: Madison Wolfe, Zoe Saldana, Sydney Wade, Imogen Poots

Directed by: Anders Walter

Written by: Joe Kelly based on his graphic novel

The Visuals: The giants themselves were creepy, and hidden most of the time.  Harbingers, another creature were distractingly low-tech -- like canvas and spray paint. 

Rating: 2.5 stars: A good story

 

More: .Walter adapted the script to remove supernatural creatures from the early part of the film to prolong the tension about whether Barbara was fighting real giants or just ones in her head. link

Even More [MAJOR SPOILER]: In this fascinating interview, Director Walter and a film critic who just lost a parent, talk about the death of a parent, and how/whether to depict that in art.

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