Anne Hathaway's new movie Colossal was inspired by Gamergate and male entitlement

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This was published 7 years ago

Anne Hathaway's new movie Colossal was inspired by Gamergate and male entitlement

By Rob Moran
Updated

"Bridget Jones meets Godzilla" might be the fantasy movie pitch that's often gone through your head during boring office meeting reveries, but it's also now a real thing - and it's surprisingly the buzz of the Toronto International Film Festival this week.

Colossal, a new monster movie by Spanish writer/director Nacho Vigalondo, starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis, has been earning raves (and seven-figure buying rights) since premiering in Toronto, and not just due to its bonkers plotline, which sees Hathaway playing Gloria, a boozy online writer who moves back home after losing her job and being dumped by her boyfriend, all while a giant tree monster terrorises South Korea.

Anne Hathaway at the premiere of Colossal at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Anne Hathaway at the premiere of Colossal at the Toronto International Film Festival.Credit: Michael Tran / Getty Images

Rather, viewers are praising the film's timely attack on toxic masculinity and male entitlement.

"Watching the movie, I was struck by what a brilliant example it offers in terms of why you shouldn't give hateful men great amounts of power," Hathaway, who was in the second trimester of her pregnancy during filming, said in an interview with Vulture.

Anne Hathaway in Colossal.

Anne Hathaway in Colossal.Credit: Cate Cameron / Voltage Pictures

"I don't know if it's because I'm a woman or just because I'm a breathing person in the year 2016, but I found it really right to see a woman pull herself out from under traditional male bullshit."

That "traditional male bullshit" involves Sudeikis, who plays Oscar, Gloria's ol' hometown bestie and a Classic Nice Guy, who helps her out with temp work at his bar and gifts to get her back on her feet - all while silently resenting her for being "friend-zoned", leading to a showdown involving monsters, robots and other fantasy beasts.

"We spoke about groups of people that we've come to define as the alt-right," Sudeikis told Vulture about the thinking behind the character. "Gamergate and all these things going on with gender politics."

The final result is what one reviewer described as "a feministsploitation film with a righteous heart".

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"Colossal is a clarion call to women who have been harassed by men online and in real life, who have been lectured and cajoled into behaving in a way that a man wants them to in order to better fit his narrative," Vanity Fair critic Richard Lawson wrote.

The film, currently doing festival rounds across the globe, is due for wider release later this year; we can't wait.

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