Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is the latest film to give a monster a makeover

By Liz Gloyn, Reader in Latin Language & Literature, Royal Holloway University of London

Ruby Gillman’s story follows a fairly standard plot: an adolescent girl longs to go to prom but must overcome both her overprotective mother’s objections and conflict with a new popular kid at school. Oh, except the girl is actually a kraken. And her nemesis is a megalomaniac mermaid.

When you think of a kraken you probably think of a sea monster of enormous size, lashing out to sink ships that sail too close to it. It belongs to Norwegian folklore and written descriptions of the beast can…

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