NEWS

In Colossal Trailer, Anne Hathaway is Trainwreck Meets Train-Wrecking Monster

Anne Hathaway plays a relatable but troubled dirtbag who is connected to an actual monster in the trailer for Colossal

by Kyle Munzenrieder

Feb. 16, 2017

At the start of the trailer for Colossal, Anne Hathaway plays a strand of character that’s becoming quite frequent in Hollywood—the farthest thing from the manic pixie dream girl. In fact, she’s a bit of a nightmare. Her life’s a bit of a mess. She drinks too much. She’s not great with money. When her boyfriend breaks up with her, you totally understand where the guy is coming from. She’s basically a total loser. A highly relatable loser who seems like she might be fun to hang out with from time to time, but a loser nonetheless.

It’s the kind of character we’ve seen in movies like *Trainwreck, Silver Linings Playbook, Bad Teacher, Bachelorette and, most famously, Bridesmaids*. A new type of comedy heroine paradigm for a new generation.

Yet, just when you think this trailer might be for a movie that cements the burgeoning genre, it turns out it’s actually flipping the idea on its head and reveals that it’s also another type of movie altogether, at least in part.

It’s also a monster movie, actually. One informed by the Japanese kaijū genre, best exemplified by Godzilla. It’s basically Trainwreck meets an actual train-wrecking monster.

SO, yeah, Anne Hathaway’s character may or may not be the actual monster.

Hathaway’s character, apparently unemployed for a year and recently broken up with her boyfriend, has moved back to her hometown and prefers drinking her nights away. Just as things don’t seem like they could get any worse, she finds out she may or may not be controlling a monster that is attacking a Korean city. So much for dirtbag relatability.

Colossal is the latest film from Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo, a guy who has made a name for himself in the offbeat indie horror and thriller space over the past few years.

The film premiered last year at the Toronto International Film Festival, and was greeted with mostly positive reception and particular praise for its originality. Per reviews, Colossal also goes a bit deeper and darker than some of those other “hot mess heroine” comedy movies but digs deeper into Hathaway’s character’s flaws and problems, and those of the people around her. Maybe that monster in Seoul isn’t the only monster? Whatever the case, the film hits theaters on April 7.