Gillman

American high school is a shark pit at the best of times. But it’s particularly tough if, like Ruby Gillman (voiced by Lana Condor), you are a member of a family of krakens – blue-skinned, tentacled, invertebrate sea creatures – who have been passing as human for the past 15 years. And while Ruby thought that negotiating prom was her main challenge, it turns out that her mother (Toni Collette) hasn’t been entirely straight with her. Ruby has a monster-size problem.Key to understanding it all is the grandmother she never…

Ruby Gillman: Teenage KrakenU/A: Comedy,DramaCast (voice): Jane Fonda, Lana Condor, Toni Collette, Hailee Steinfeld, Noah Centineo, John BoyegaDirectors: Kirk DeMicco, Faryn PearlRating:3/5 An action packed coming-of-age epic adventure, this film follows the story of Ruby Gillman, a shy teenager who discovers that she has inherited the powers of the legendary Kraken, a mythical sea creature. For the uninitiated, Kraken is a sea monster of enormous size said to appear off the coasts of Norway. One`s who have watched…

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse LoughreyGet our The Life Cinematic email for freeThe hero of DreamWorks Animation’s latest, the muddled Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, is a 16-year-old girl like any other. That is, of course, if you don’t count the fact she’s bright blue. Or that she has tiny gills where her ears should be. Her family’s from Canada, you see – or, at least, that’s the excuse every one of the Gillmans’s friends, neighbours, and colleagues seems…

High school is hell, especially if you’re from a family of mythical sea beasts attempting to blend in on land. That’s the coming-of-age context for this latest fantastical fable from DreamWorks Animation, the studio behind Shrek. Ruby (Lana Condor) is an ordinary modern teenager – save for the gills she hides under her polo neck – so all she wants is to go to prom with her friends. Even if prom is “a post-colonial, patriarchal construct”. But this year’s dance will be held on a boat, and Ruby’s mother (Toni Collette) has…

Disney’s much-anticipated Little Mermaid live-action remake is out this week, which makes the timing of DreamWorks’ new trailer for Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken—which features “evil mermaids,” as well as the perils of high school—feel not entirely coincidental.RUBY GILLMAN, TEENAGE KRAKEN | New TrailerThere’s also a bit of The Princess Diaries in this one, in that a geeky teen gets the “surprise, you’re royalty!” shock of her young life—albeit there are way more giant tentacles involved in this particular fairy tale.…