The 2016 Toronto International Film Festival welcomed Nacho Vigalondo’s “Colossal” for its world premiere. The Canadian film starred Anne Hathaway as Gloria, an unemployed party girl that returned to her hometown only to discover a disturbing connection between herself and a creature that was wreaking havoc in Seoul, South Korea. The film also starred Jason Sudeikis, Tim Blake Nelson, Austin Stowell and Dan Stevens.
In the city of Seoul, South Korea, a little girl engages in a nightly search for her lost doll in the park. What was supposed to be a simple search and rescue mission for the little girl turned into a horrifying sight when the little girl and her mother see a frightening creature descend on the city.
Jump 25 years into the future in New York City where Gloria is seen returning home after a drunken night out only to be kicked out and dumped by her boyfriend, Tim (Dan Stevens). With nowhere else to go, Gloria returned to her small hometown where she hides out in her old childhood home. It wasn’t long before Gloria ran into old classmate Oscar (Jason Sudeikis), who owned his family’s bar. Through Oscar, Gloria met Garth (Tim Blake Nelson) and Joel (Austin Stowell). With a new group to get drunk with, Gloria continued the party until Oscar offered her a job at the bar. Despite the job offer, Gloria continued to party hard until dawn. It was during one drunken stupor that Gloria stumbled upon an old playground. Drunken hilarity ensued for Gloria until the next morning when she realized some terrifying coincidences to herself and a creature that was terrorizing Seoul. Ridden with guilt, Gloria became fixated on finding out the truth behind this connection before more innocents got hurt. After some surprising results, Gloria confided in her new friends. Unfortunately, everything spiralled out of control afterwards when that new trust became twisted in ways that Gloria could have never anticipated.
Gloria wasn’t always a party girl. She escaped her small hometown with dreams of making it big as a journalist. She was on the right track until she was fired a year ago. Unable to find a job since, Gloria turned to alcohol to soothe the void she felt in her failure. From then on, Gloria only focused on herself and numbing the pain that her failure brought her. It wasn’t until Gloria discovered the creature’s existence did she truly start to care again for the well-being of others. Anne Hathaway did a marvellous job in portraying the many facets of Gloria. To her lost ambitions to her guilty conscience, Hathaway brought out an emotional response from the audience no matter which part of Gloria was being featured. While the film focused on the mystery behind the creature’s existence, the film also featured a deep exploration of Gloria as her priorities shifted. The portrayal of her development was truly remarkable.
Aside from the main mystery of a giant creature in Seoul, the film’s portrayal of other issues was something else to take notice of. Through Gloria’s party ways, alcoholism and the feeling of being out of control (of yourself or of the things around you) were touched upon. It truly demonstrated what some people were capable of when stripped of their inhibitions and backed into the proverbial corner. The emotional depths of jealousy, envy, regret, guilt and lust were also featured in many of the characters. The superiority complex was another issue that was demonstrated over many of the characters, pitting them against one another in some aspects.
Director: Nacho Vigalondo
Writer/Screenplay: Nacho Vigalondo
Country of Origin: Canada | USA | Spain | South Korea
Language: English | Korean
Length: 109 minutes
Original Release: April 21, 2017
Publication Note:
This was published in Volume 12, Issue 4 of AsianWave Magazine.
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