Of Monsters And Men

Anne Hathaway, looking less glamorous than usual, in "Colossal."

Quick Movie Review: "Colossal" (2016)

"Colossal" is about a young American woman who is surprised to learn she is somehow mysteriously connected to a giant monster that is attacking Seoul. Sounds like fun, right? Just wait.

Every blurb I read about the movie portrayed it more or less like a sci-fi comedy, albeit a somewhat dark one. When I finally got around to watching it, I was surprised at how dark it was. "Colossal" starts off as a story about alcoholism and then turns into something even uglier, a story about the monsters inside of us.

It can't be easy to balance gritty psychological drama with, you know, a giant lizard stomping around Seoul, and writer-director Nacho Vigalondo struggles at time to find the right tone. I wouldn't say that "Colossal" works, or even that it's a good movie. Still, I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it, and that counts for something.

Anne Hathaway stars as Gloria, a struggling writer whose boyfriend kicks her out of their New York apartment because he can't deal with her binge drinking and her lies anymore. The movie does its best to grunge down the usually glamorous Hathaway, but you know, she still looks like a movie star. Anyway, Gloria ends up in her empty family home in a small town, and reconnects with childhood classmate Oscar, played by Jason Sudeikis.

Oscar gives Gloria a job at his bar, and includes her in his small group of friends who stay up drinking all night after closing. Let's just say there are some red flags there. Gloria isn't the only character who isn't honest about her drinking.

Soon, the monster starts attacking Seoul. Gloria recognizes some weird parallels between the monster's behavior and her own -- for instance, it appears to have a nervous tic that makes it scratch its head in exactly the same way she does. She soon figures out that it's more than coincidence.

It didn't take me long to recognize the monster as a metaphor for Gloria's addiction. "Colossal" delves into the regret and shame an alcoholic can feel about the damage she causes during her blackouts, but that sci-fi /fantasy framing device allows the movie to explore those feelings without getting moralistic about things. At one point I started to see the movie as "The Days of Wine and Roses" meets "Godzilla," but that doesn't cover it. "Colossal" also deals with conflicts between men and women, rural and urban, modern and traditional, and more. 

We see how alcoholics drink to overcome their own shame and self-hatred, and how they use the shame and self-hatred of other drunks to control them. It's a story that is all too familiar to many of us from our own lives and those of people we know, even if the giant monster is something we only see in movies.