I Kill Giants

A young girl's psychological demons take the form of marauding giants in this melancholy adaptation of the graphic novel by JM Ken Niimura and Joe Kelly, with a screenplay from Kelly himself. Madison Wolfe plays the troubled teen, a resident of a constantly overcast coastal town in Northeast America who has created an elaborate fantasy world as a means of coping with a painful domestic situation, recasting herself as the community's unacknowledged giant-battling heroine. Her older sister (Imogen Poots) is struggling to keep the family afloat and Zoe Saldana wears a permanently pained expression as the watchful school therapist who takes an interest in their situation. The debut feature from Danish director Anders Walter has a distinct magical realist aesthetic and the first-timer works wonders with a modest budget. It's a little thin narratively, with the supporting characters in particular often woefully underwritten. Yet the strong female focus is refreshing and events build to a stirring climax, while the film's compassion for its angry, frightened protagonist knows no bounds.