I Kill Giants (Chasseuse de géants)

There's still something about I Kill Giants that feels projected, a work more informed by empathy than experience.

This intimate story about a troubled 12-year-old who's on a mission to save her town is virtually tone perfect.

The vivid cinematography, affecting performance by Wolfe, and lack of saccharine allow the film to resonate not only with the teen target demographic but older viewers as well.

A sensitive and attractive, if not wholly convincing, pairing of fantasy with real-life turmoil.

Poignant, "I Kill Giants" uses fantasy elements to grab viewers and discuss the effect of tragedy on the youngest among us. It also reminds us of the importance of creativity and imagination as a device to deal with life's difficulties.

[T]he movie is playing a game of sorts with pain and grief. It's tricky territory that the movie almost navigates successfully.

I adored I Kill Giants for all its scrappiness, fury, and fantasy.

By the time Barbara's problems are revealed to be far more mundane than fantastical, the movie has lost all its magic.

I Kill Giants is a dark piece of work for children, which is far from a bad thing.

I Kill Giants might work great for a target audience of misunderstood tween/teenagers who are looking for something more somber and personal than Harry Potter, but I don't think it'll mean much to anyone else.

There's not enough to the story to keep the effort engrossing, finding the tale overflowing with sincerity, but lacking content, often scrambling to fill a feature-length run time.

While the film isn't as subtle as A Monster Calls or Where the Wild Things Are, it captures the messiness of suffering just as well.