Sat down and watched a movie called I Kill Giants this evening. It’s a coming of age tale of a young girl, Barbara, an outsider who doesn’t make friends easily. She’s weird, she plays D&D, and she is on a quest to slay all the giants in her hometown. She saves the town and its inhabitants on a monthly basis.
She is of course bullied by an older, larger girl named Taylor, and her cronies. But Barbara is not your usual milquetoast wimp. She is defiant of her bullies, and even of her teachers. She stands up for herself. Of course, what does one who slays giants have to fear from bullies and teachers?
Along the way, a new girl, Sophia, who just moved to America with her family from Leeds, England, tries to make friends with Barbara, with varying levels of success. Theirs is a rocky relationship, as Sophia isn’t sure just how much of the giants are real and how much are in Barbara’s head.
As the movie progresses we find out why Barbara is obsessed with giant slaying, and her ultimate showdown with not just a giant, but a Titan (like those from Greek mythology.) I won’t spoil it for you. You should watch it and take the journey yourself.
It reminds me of another similar movie, that was released a year earlier called A Monster Calls. The storyline is similar to I Kill Giants, with a young boy named Conor, who also is dealing with a similar large scale life issue and bullies like Barbara. It too is worth watching.
If you’re only going to watch one of the two, I think I’d pick A Monster Calls over I Kill Giants. If nothing else it has Sigourney Weaver playing the Grandmother, and Liam Neeson as the voice of the Monster.
A Monster Calls is available from Amazon (DVD, Blu-Ray) as is I Kill Giants (DVD, Blu-Ray)
Note: The Amazon link(s) above is an affiliate link. If you make a purchase from clicking that link, you don’t get charged anything extra, and I make a small commission from the sale.