Colossal

Anne Hathaway stars as Gloria, an unemployed alcoholic who is forced to move back home to her parents' abandoned house after her boyfriend (Dan Stevens) kicks her out. Back home, she reconnects with childhood friend Oscar (Jason Sudeikis) while struggling not to fall back into old patterns. All the pieces are here for an entertaining dramedy focused on Gloria, her questionable choices, and the people in her life. However, writer/director Nacho Vigalondo has something far more unusual in mind.

At the same time Gloria returns home a giant creature appears on the streets of Seoul, South Korea. Watching news footage, Gloria can't help but notice some similarities between the creatures mannerisms and her own and quickly discovers that at one spot in her town, and one specific time, she causes the creature to manifest halfway around the world and controls its actions (be that wanton destruction or goofy dancing). From here the movie could devolve into a wacky comedy, but once again Vigalondo has something more interesting in mind as the film takes an unexpectedly dark turn.

Colossal gets surprisingly dark exploring Gloria, Oscar, the flaws of each character, and the destruction Gloria's return home does both to those around her and strangers half a world away. Known mostly as the funny guy, Jason Sudeikis shows something new here in the disturbed Oscar which filmgoers may not be expecting. As much as the movie is about Gloria coming to terms with her life, it's also about Oscar's responses to her actions. Colossal isn't the wacky monster movie the poster may suggest. It's actually quite a bit more.