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I Kill Giants

7/10

Stars: Madison Wolfe, Zoe Saldana, Imogen Poots, Sydney Wade, Rory Jackson, Noel Clarke

Director: Anders Walter

Twelve-year-old Barbara Thorson (Wolfe), who lives in a small township on the New Jersey coast, seems to be a Grade A weirdo. Adrift in a fantasy world, she devises potions, traps and weapons for killing the giants of the forest which she sees in her imagination.

While her older sister (Poots) tries to keep the home together, Barbara is tormented by her two brattish brothers. And she is afraid to go upstairs, for reasons which only become apparent towards the end of the film.

Driven to despair, Barbara strikes the teacher (Saldana) who is trying to help what she sees as a troubled soul, and even her only friend (Wade), although the contact is accidental, as Barbara is beset by school bullies led by Taylor (Jackson). Again, she retreats into a world of her own devising.

Slow to start, this is a film that grows on you as it goes along. Wolfe's speech is difficult to grasp at first, until you get used to its rhythms, and the monsters are tolerably well realised, along the lines of A Monster Calls. The fight between Barbara and the chief monster at the end is nicely staged, even though it's all in her imagination. ...or is it?

Britain's talented Jennifer Ehle is wasted in a tiny role towards the end of the movie.

David Quinlan

Belgium/Ireland/UK/USA 2017. UK Distributor: Kaleidoscope. Colour (unspecified).
102 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 1.

Review date: 06 Apr 2018