Colossal is a film unlike anything an audience has seen. Directed by Nacho Vigalondo and premiered in 2016 at the Toronto International Film Festival before being released in theaters in 2017. Colossal tells the story of Gloria (Anne Hathaway), an unemployed writer who is kicked out of her apartment by her boyfriend for excessive alcohol consumption. Gloria moves back to her old town where she reconnects with childhood friend Oscar (Jason Sudeikis), and the two begin to bond at the bar where he works.
While this seems to start out as a lot of low-budget character pieces or banal rom-coms, Colossal big twist is that every time Gloria passes through a park at a certain time of day, a kaiju (a huge monster, like Godzilla) manifests itself over Seoul, South Korea. To the world, what looks like a giant monster destroying the city is actually a young woman stumbling home from the bar after a night of heavy drinking. It is eventually revealed that when Oscar is roaming the park, a giant robot also manifests, leading to a conflict between the two over how to use this power.
Colossal received positive reviews from critics upon its release, and one particular aspect of the film to be commended is its portrayal of addiction, particularly alcoholism and alcohol addiction. At first glance you might wonder what a character study on addiction and giant Kaiju monster movie would have in common to be a thematic fit, but the filmmakers and the performers tackle the subject in a complex way by paradoxically contrasting it with an inherently silly piece of genre fiction.
The connection between alcohol and the Kaiju
While the presence of a giant Kaiju in Colossal may seem out of place at first glance and an example of a random shot, the filmmakers use the kaiju to express the destructive propensity of alcohol. The kaiju that reflects Gloria’s movements shows that what may seem to her at first to be destructive decisions that only harm her, don’t just harm her, and have an impact far beyond what she realizes. The very fact that the creature manifests before her on the other side of the world literally conveys the idea that a person does not fully realize the destructive ray of their actions and how far-reaching they can be. She begins to take responsibility when she fully understands how much her problem has touched and hurt people.
The destruction that audiences usually love to see in great Kaiju movies like godzilla and King Kong here is meant to shock and scare the public. This isn’t fun (although the idea of a traditional kaiju fight that actually involves two people hanging out drunk in a playground is meant to be a humorous subversion), because the sights and sounds of the people screaming for their lives don’t come across as funny. What may seem nice, if misused, can lead to damage beyond what one might think and hurt people, be they loved ones or strangers. It shows how alcohol can turn someone into a monster; it’s not subtle, but it’s effective.
Alcoholism is a complex topic
Any film that tackles a subject like addiction has to walk a fine line, as a portrait can often come across as insincere, melodramatic or extremely judgmental. While at other times it can also come across as being way too forgiving and justifying destructive behavior to a person and those around them. Play it too melodramatically and it comes across as an after-school special; too slippery, and it may seem dangerous or glorifying.
The film is Gloria’s story, and it is her battle with addiction that the film focuses on through an empathetic lens. One of the traits the Kaiju displays that indicate to her that she might be the monster is a nervous tick she has where she scratches her head. This is both a clever setup to pay off later, but also a thematically rich bit of character detail. It’s a nervous tick she’s developed, and the first time the public is made aware of it is when she’s around alcohol. She has both an itch she needs to scratch, be it with alcohol or a literal physical she has. She doesn’t want to be ruled by alcohol and sometimes even tries to avoid it. She tries to resist temptations, but whether her environment or even others close to her push it on her, she has trouble escaping it.
In the final ending scene of the film, where she has a moment of victory, she is immediately asked if she would like a drink, and the film is cut short, leaving it to the audience to decide whether she took it or not. While Gloria may have defeated a literal demon she struggled with, the road to recovery is often long with fumbles, so the movie doesn’t end clearly and leaves it up to the viewer to decide what Gloria’s future holds. . Colossal know that there is no one-size-fits-all cure for addiction, hence the phrase “one day at a time.”
Seeds of bitterness in Colossal
Anyone who has ever taken up drinking knows that there are a few different types of people when they drink. There are the nice ones, the happy ones, the sad ones. Everyone has encountered it. But the most feared is the bitter evil one. Where alcohol takes away the facade and a person rages in his rage to lash out at others and let his resentment bubble over him and that is perfectly reflected in Jason Sudeikis’ portrayal as Oscar.
Oscar seemingly begins the movie as the standard “good guy,” the hometown boyfriend who was in love with a friend who the movie seems to have set up as the potential love interest. But if Colossal continues, and Oscar discovers that he can also manifest a giant creature, the film reveals a dark truth. Oscar is incredibly bitter about Gloria going on to live a successful life, as well as everyone around him. He later turns on her when he discovers she’s interacted with his friend instead of him, and all his helpful attitude toward her fades.
Though he’s a social drinker at first, the film hints early on that when things don’t go his way, he’ll lash out. In the middle of the movie, he yells at all his friends and says words meant to hurt them. In a normal situation, a person might have held back because they would have weighed in on how their words might have an impact, but the alcohol strips that way. He wields his potential for mass destruction over Gloria, threatening her to drink and stay close. He is manipulative and bitter. The alcohol doesn’t make him like that, but it does bring out his worst tendencies. Oscar is in stark contrast to Gloria. Although they both use alcohol to heal a pain they feel inside, Gloria has no intention of hurting others, while Oscar does. He is a monster before his robot appears.