I Kill Giants

Barbara Thorson is a young and independent teenager who is struggling to come to terms with her mothers terminal illness while also living with her supportive older sister Karen. At school, she is constantly attacked by frequenting school bullies led by popular queen bee Taylor, who holds an unstable grudge against Barbara. Unknowingly to everyone around her, Barbara has created herself a fantasy utopia inspired by her love of Dungeons & Dragons and other magical pop culture elements. Barbara believes that giants from other worlds are coming to wreak havoc on her hometown and she creates weapons and traps to fend off the frighting creatures on a daily basis.

One day, Barbara makes a new friend named Sophia, who becomes interested in her belief in giant slaying. Sophia offers to join Barbara’s creed in devising a plan to kill a colossal giant that plans to bring doom towards Barbara’s home and the rest of the world. Back at home, Karen finds a giant’s footprint in the family’s backyard and instantly comes to the terms that Barbara’s utopia is real.

During a lunch break at school, Barbara gets confronted by Taylor and her friends, but is eventually interrupted with Barbara being called by the school psychologist, Mrs. Mollé. Their meeting only causes Barbara to exit abruptly, after deciding their talk would just distract her. Barbara then proceeds to explain more of the giants’ history to Sophia in an outdoor “sanctuary” she created near the beach outside her house. She shows Sophia the baits and traps she created to lure and trap giants. She also tells Sophia about Harbingers (masked ghosts) that remind her that there is a nearby giant.

Mrs. Mollé eventually reaches out more to Barbara drawing them closer despite several events happening in school that involved Karen to talk with the school principal. Although Karen gets stressed, she still supports Barbara and her brother financially. A misunderstanding in school causes Sophia to ask Barbara if they are still friends, to which Barbara says ‘yes’. Sophia starts questioning some of Barbara’s actions and whether they are safe to do and talk about. Barbara reassures her, saying that she is doing all of this to protect her and the whole town.

One day, Taylor convinces Sophia that she will tell Sophia a secret about Barbara, if Sophia leads her to the traps and devices Barbara made for the giants. This plan is discovered by Barbara when Taylor and her friends start destroying Barbara’s traps near her sanctuary. Angered, Barbara is ready to unleash her hidden weapon, Kovaleski (named after baseball player Harry Kovaleski whom Barbara is a fan of,) hidden in a heart-shaped pocket book she always wears. Although she expects a war-hammer to be seen, she sees a pick at her demise. She gets depressed at the fact that she is not “worthy” to use Kovaleski. Taylor and her friends decide to beat up Barbara.

Sophia takes Barbara home upstairs, which Barbara seems to be uncomfortable with as her mother is in the room adjacent to where Sophia takes her. Sophia, shocked at seeing Barbara’s mother sick, leaves Barbara’s house. Barbara visits Mrs. Mollé at her house looking for help, but leaves as she starts feeling uncomfortable. She heads for the abandoned train tracks area, where she prepares to fight a giant.

Followed by Sophia, Barbara heads to face the giant. She hides in the trains, but is overpowered by the giant’s strength. She kills the giant nevertheless by activating a train control station, rigged to nearby electrical poles, which electrocute the giant. Barbara leaves the place as it burns, to Sophia’s horror. The next day, Barbara humiliates Taylor by placing a skeleton in her locker. Barbara exclaims that “Taylor is a sacrifice to prove that she is worthy of Kovaleski.” This worries Mrs. Mollé and Karen who proceed to look for Barbara. Barbara heads to her sanctuary upon discovering that she still can’t use Kovaleski.

Mrs. Mollé follows and stops Barbara as she is heading to the sanctuary. Mrs. Mollé mentions that Barbara’s mother has gotten even sicker and that they need to visit her. Barbara ignores her and proceeds to go to the sanctuary. Upon arriving, she sees that a lot of her items has been destroyed. Sophia tells Barbara that Taylor wrecked the area as revenge for what Barbara did and that she tried to stop her. Suddenly, a titan, a bigger giant, appears out of the water. Barbara prepares to fight it and opens her pocket book revealing Kovaleski as war-hammer. She proceeds to defeat the titan with it, fueled by her wrath that the titan came for her mother. Upon dying, the titan reveals that he came for Barbara, not her mother.

The next day, Barbara overcomes her fear of not visiting her mom and climbs upstairs to have a last talk with her mother. They share heartfelt messages and Barbara apologizes for not visiting her. Barbara’s mom dies, but Barbara changes for the better, rekindling relationships with Mrs. Mollé, Karen and Sophia during the summer break. On the first night of school, Barbara sleeps in her mother’s bed. She says goodbye and thanks to the titan, that she sees from the window, for making her stronger and facing her fears.