The Giant

The Giant, the first film written and directed by David Raboy, could have been a gripping psychological drama if its director had given the same importance to the story as to the form and rhythm of his film. By wanting to have total control over his first film by writing, directing and editing it himself, he forgets the most important thing, which is to make his film digestible and compelling.

In a small southern town, 17-year-old Charlotte spends the summer with her friends before leaving for university. She is trying to get over her mother's suicide and the sudden disappearance of her boyfriend. When the boyfriend reappears, Charlotte's whole life will be shattered, especially since a killer seems to have arrived in town and is stalking all the girls who look like her. Charlotte plunges her life into a nightmare. The intrigue with a director who totally masters the meaning of the story could have plunged the audience into a waking nightmare.

Unfortunately, by wanting to follow in the footsteps of Terence Malick through a filmmaking process that favors only the most beautiful images and by forgetting that a film must tell a story, be captivating and above all transport the spectators by creating an emotional bond with them. In the case of this film whose action takes place mainly at night and even if the director knows how to create a real atmosphere, one is bored stiffly because of a too slow rhythm and a total absence of giving the characters a real psychological depth.

Nevertheless The Giant has some visible qualities such as the presence in the female lead role of the young actress Odessa Young (Sweet Virginia (2017), Assassination Nation (2018) which despite the numerous flaws in the script manages to capture our full attention and give its troubled character a touch of humanity.

The Giant
Written and Directed by David Raboy
Produced by Gary Farkas, Clément Lepoutre, Dennis Masel, Olivier Müller
Starring Odessa Young, Ben Schnetzer, Jack Kilmer, Madelyn Cline, Danny Ramirez, P.J. Marshall, Nicholas Cirillo, Ashley Shelton
Music by Ari Balouzian
Cinematography : Eric Yue
Edited by David Raboy
Production companies : Vixens Films
Distributed by Vertical Entertainment
Release date: November 13, 2020
Running time: 99 minutes

Seen on November 07, 2020 (press link)

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