Initially, Colossal seems like a traditional romantic comedy, a film where a flawed protagonist goes back to her roots on a journey of self-discovery and reconnects with an old flame. In a way it is; however, filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo (Timecrimes, Extraterrestrial) puts his characteristic twist on proceedings, merging the everyday with a more fantastical component to offer up a smart, entertaining, and endearingly off-beat piece of filmmaking.
Gloria (Anne Hathaway) is a mess. Her drinking has driven a wedge between her and her boyfriend (Dan Stevens), prompting him to throw her out of his apartment. Left with little other option, she returns to the small town where she grew up and moves into her vacant childhood home. While there she reconnects with Oscar (Jason Sudekis), an old friend who ends up giving her a job in his bar, a place she spends her off hours too. While waking up from another stupor, she finds the world has changed. News-stations are running footage of a giant monster that wreaked havoc in Seoul overnight before it suddenly vanished. The creature continues to appear in the city and eventually Gloria comes to the realization that she and the creature are somehow connected. Her drunken passage through a playground on her way home from the bar manifests as a kaiju on the other side of the world. Finally convincing her friends of her link to the monster, matters are further complicated by the appearance of a giant robot in Seoul, while Gloria has to deal with another showdown closer to home as her relationship with Oscar takes a dark turn.
Colossal is about a monster, just not the one you think. The initial hints of a romantic reconnection between Gloria and a figure from her past transitions into something darker. This introspective portion is mashed together with a plot strand that’s larger than life…well, larger than a skyscraper at least. This tonal shift becomes par for the course in Colossal, and Vigalondo deftly balances both aspects of the film.
“The monster within” Gloria is her own self-destructive demon, while Oscar is a case-study of toxic masculinity. The nice guy façade conceals a manipulative and entitled man who eventually turns rather malevolent. He gives Gloria a job and brings her gifts, but when she starts to reject his advances and turn down his help, things start to sour.
Hathaway gives an unflinching performance, lighter than her substance abuse-rooted work in Rachel Getting Married, but no less authentic. Her Gloria is a fuckup, but a very human one you can empathize with. It makes her step up to take charge of her life and the giant situation unfolding in Seoul all the more satisfying. Sudekis turns in one of his best ever performances. It’s not just Oscar’s inner monster that he nails, but the initial friendly soul and his snarky transition to an abusive and unnervingly convincing example of a hateful, rotten, individual who preys upon Gloria’s self-destructive spiral that has left her regressed to her childhood home with no friends or family in sight. She makes friends, or at least drinking buddies, with solid supporting turns from Tim Blake Nelson and Austin Stowell. They serve as a nice sounding board as well as a means to draw out some of the friction between Gloria and Oscar.
The real success of Colossal is in not losing sight of the human elements amidst the quirkier ones. Emotions and conflict translate into a slice of kaiju action. The action sequences make good use of a limited budget, and the giant monster sequences also add an element of fun to soften the weightier components. It’s a pretty emotional journey for Gloria, overcoming addiction, self-realization and empowerment, independence, in the shadow of your own demons as well as people who seek to dominate, cumulating in a very stirring, even empowering finale. Blending these together, Vigalondo effortlessly turns what could be a gimmick into something far more satisfying.
Nacho Vigalondo has yet again merged a whimsical idea with something familiar, in an effort that ranks as perhaps his most successful to date. He indulges in a weird concept and bigger canvas while never losing sight of how this story is about the struggle of one woman, wonderfully portrayed by Anne Hathaway. Colossal is a bold and imaginative indie film that blurs the line with a blockbuster, offering something far more resonant, empowering, and fun as it stomps though the rom-com genre.
Colossal screened at SXSW 2017 and is due for wide release on April 7th.