In Anders Walter’s first feature film, I Kill Giants, he and Joe Kelly, the writer of the graphic novel of the same name, create a beautiful pairing of fantasy and drama.
Set in a small Eastern coastal town, the film opens with Barbara (Madison Wolfe), a young girl in her early teenage years, staring at the woods with a sense of determination. Barbara begins her work, which seems to be a recurring task, as she effortlessly grabs a bottle of what looks like a homemade red concoction from her wagon, scrapes green mold/moss off a mushroom, adds it to the jar along with gold glitter, before adding the final missing piece: a yellow gummy bear. While shaking the mixture together, she hears what sounds like wood creaking and freezes to get a better sense what danger could be lurking nearer. As she peers from behind a tree to observe the unknown intruder, we feel Barbara’s urgency as she grabs her wagon and begins to pour her mixture on the low branch of one of the trees. We see something moving in the forest and suddenly, a large, wooden hand comes down to grab some of Barbara’s red slime. Barbara looks onward at this giant-like creature in a mixture of satisfaction and anger. Briefly, we are introduced to her world where killing giants is a must and Barbara is just the girl to do it.
She is the classic town outsider who doesn’t connect with kids her own age and is more than comfortable being alone. She has a world of work to do every day to keep her town safe from the looming threats of giants, which includes checking traps and setting giant bait, and has no time to be bothered with the “problems” of her peers. This aloofness extends to her sister Karen (Imogen Poots) who is struggling to take care of Barbara and their younger brother on her own. Barbara’s world changes when she is befriended by Sophia (Sydney Wades) and tells her about the world of giants that is hidden in plain sight. While Sophia is diving deeper into the world of giant-killing, the school psychologist Mrs. Mollé (Zoe Saldana) tries to understand and help Barbara navigate through her problems at home that appear to be bleeding into her school life and back to a world that isn’t plagued by “giants.” Signs around town begin to point towards a devastating giant coming to town soon to wreck Barbara’s life. Her trusted weapon, named Kovaleski, was recently broken by the school bully Taylor (Rory Jackson) after a particularly rough and one-sided fight. Will Barbara be able to save the town she has sworn to protect from the giants that no one believes in or can see?
Much like ‘Stand By Me,’ this is a coming-of-age story about death that will leave the viewer with a stronger desire to seize the day and a sense of urgency to reflect on the giants we may be fighting and how we can best kill them.
This film tackles the difficult topic of death through the characterization of Barbara. Barbara is both depicted as a girl who is intrigued by death through her mission to kill giants and someone who avoids it, and even becomes violent when it hits too close to home. Wolfe truly captures both sides of this complicated character by giving the audience moments of vulnerability mixed with dry humor and sharp wit. Wolfe gives us a character who is wise beyond her years, bold against her enemies, defiant to authority, and yet broken at heart when it comes to the ones she loves most. Magic and fantastical giants may be what ease viewers into this heavy topic but Wolfe is the one who uses Barbara as a counterpoint showing us how she handles and, more times than not, doesn’t handle, the idea and concept of death in her real life.
The theme of strength against the unknown is an added layer to the heavy reality that is death, as Barbara states throughout the film, “You are stronger than you think.” While many have been given this advice while going through a hard time, it can be a difficult concept to grasp, and watching Barbara struggle to accept this is touching. It led me to the notion that we are all fighting giants both seen and unseen and every journey to acceptance is different. Barbara is fighting giants through her carefully laid traps, but she is also fighting the giant that is Death and the unknown and loneliness that is left once death takes its toll. When we try to fight things out of our control rather than accept what lays before us and enjoy the time we have left, we are hurting ourselves more than we know. While the film never answers the question ‘if giants exist,’ I found it wildly refreshing. The focus of the film is not on whether magic really, truly exists but rather that metaphorical giants plague everyone, and we must find the strength to conquer them rather than run from them.
I Kill Giants is a beautifully woven, intricate tale of a young girl being asked to accept the concept of death while using fantasy and magic as the guide into this dramatic story. The script stays close to the graphic novel but offers a new experience for lovers of the original source material and a compelling first introduction for fresh eyes. Do not fear, you do not need to have read the graphic novel in order to appreciate the master storytelling that is found in I Kill Giants. Much like Stand By Me, this is a coming-of-age story about death that will leave the viewer with a stronger desire to seize the day and a sense of urgency to reflect on the giants we may be fighting and how we can best kill them.
106 minutes. ‘I Kill Giants’ is not rated. Opens this Friday at Laemmle’s Music Hall 3 and available On Demand & Digital HD.
