Filmology Rating: 3 out of 4

Have you ever wished that you were a monster and had the ability to destroy a city in frustration or anger?  Not an imaginary monster like in A Monster Calls but more like a kaiju from Pacific Rim?  To have that much power would be a thrill to some and to others it would be the biggest nightmare ever.  That is the world of Colossal, written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo.  

Gloria, played by Anne Hathaway, is an unemployed alcoholic writer who doesn’t take her life or relationships seriously.  After being kicked out by her boyfriend, played by Dan Stevens, she returns to her hometown to try and find her purpose in life.  Gloria quickly runs into her childhood friend Oscar, played by Jason Sudeikis, who is more than willing to help her get back onto her feet.  Gloria can’t seem to fix her alcohol problem but realizes she must after she drunkenly destroys Seoul with a monster she mysteriously controls.    

Colossal is easily the most original film of the year so far and one of the most original in the past few.  This film uses a minimalist approach with it’s action and yet I found it more moving than any of the action in The Fate of the Furious or any Michael Bay film.  Vigalondo cares about the character’s emotional destruction more than the physical destruction of the world and it is breathtaking to watch.  I have known people in abusive relationships and I feel this film perfectly captures that feeling of being trapped in one.  You have no idea who you can trust and how long you will be able to trust them.  Sometimes your best friend will turn out to be the biggest monster, other times your biggest enemy could be the one offering you salvation.  The script can only take the concepts in the film so far, so the actors Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis deserve more credit than I can give them.

Anne Hathaway is an actress that I want to like but most of the time I find her performances to be distracting or bad in films like Interstellar and Song One, but at other times she blows me away with her performance, bringing a gravitas to the role that I imagine only she could bring in films like Les Miserables and The Dark Knight Rises.  Her performance in Colossal is one of the biggest highlights of the film.  Gloria starts out as a rather unlikable, untrustworthy character but the way that Hathaway plays it with this sense of self loathing is fantastic and makes you want to root for her to get out of her alcoholic rut.  The other side of the coin is Jason Sudeikis, an actor who keeps trying to be dramatic in films like Race and Mother’s Day but hasn’t been able to find his place in them, has finally found a niche that he is perfect in.  I don’t want to spoil most of this film, but Sudeikis has found the role that he might have been born to play with how perfectly he portrays Oscar. While this film will be sadly overlooked around award season this film offers actors who buy into insane concepts but play them off in a very human way, which invests every audience member in the story.  

I cannot understand anyone not liking this film, it’s one of the best films I have seen this year and it offers a message of empowerment during an uncertain age.  Colossal will appeal to everyone as long as you can accept it’s unique concept.  If you liked Swiss Army Man last year rush out to see this film, if you like any art house film rush out to see this film.  I guarantee you will not find a more original film this year than Colossal.   

Rating: See It

-Jonny G