Review: ‘The Giant’
Odessa Young impresses in this beautiful yet overambitious mess of a movie.
Charlotte (Odessa Young) is about to graduate from high school. Young, smart and beautiful with a great support system made up of supportive friends and a caring father, she has her whole life ahead of her. So why is she so miserable?
It may have to do with her mother, who passed away under mysterious circumstances (and who also might be attempting to communicate with her from beyond the grave). It may also have to do with her ex-boyfriend, the dark and handsome Joe (Ben Schnetzer) who disappeared without a trace (but seems to have resurfaced alongside a string of murders that rock the small town they reside in). Nevertheless, Charlotte tries to brave through her dire circumstances, maintaining a careful façade that ends up cracking as the film progresses (and more bodies start surfacing).
Fresh off of a string of impressive performances in Assassination Nation, A Million Little Pieces and this year’s Shirley, Odessa Young is fantastic as the forlorn Charlotte, bringing an air of authenticity to the film’s traffic proceedings. Charlotte is not the most expressive of characters, repressing her feelings of loss and heartbreak instead of attempting to address them, but thanks to Young’s effective performance, her grief is downright palpable, allowing audiences to empathize with her and her struggles throughout the film’s duration. Ben Schnetzer also impresses as Charlotte’s mysterious boyfriend Joe who appears to her in what seem like ghostly visions, guiding her to the film’s inevitably tragic finale.
The Giant is definitely well-directed; every shot impeccably framed, every movement perfectly choreographed. It’s certainly well-acted, with almost every single actor turning in an impressive performance. It has a more than intriguing premise that brings to mind Richard Kelly’s cult classic Donnie Darko and The Butterfly Effect. But it never ends up amounting to anything; the threads director and writer David Raboy carefully places throughout the film’s duration never connect the way that he must have intended for them to, making for a frustrating moviegoing experience that will leave viewers confused as soon as the credits roll. The Giant tries to be a haunting drama, a tense thriller and a terrifying horror film all at once and the result is a tonally confused mess of a film that, while strangely gripping and oddly beautiful, flounders instead of soars.
Despite its narrative shortcomings, The Giant is almost admirable in its overambition, taking viewers on a roller coaster ride that may seem extravagant at first but ends up plodding along instead of taking off in the film’s third act. Through a series of perfectly delivered voiceovers courtesy of Young, Raboy delivers surprisingly deep and thoughtful musings on life, purpose and legacy. This is when The Giant is at its best: when it dives deep into its lead character’s fractured psyche, exploring how grief and heartbreak can manifest themselves into the real world.
Despite its narrative shortcomings, The Giant is an exciting debut feature from David Raboy that adds yet another impressive performance to Odessa Young’s filmography.
Rating: 3/5
The Giant will be released on November 13.