A Monster Calls, 2016.
Directed by J.A Bayona.
Starring Lewis MacDougall, Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones, Toby Kebbell and Liam Neeson.
SYNOPSIS:
A boy seeks the help of a Tree monster to help his mother with her terminal illness.
A Monster Calls is a truly tragic coming of age story, a 12-year-old boy Conor (Lewis MacDougall) dealing with the slow death of his Mother (Felicity Jones) from terminal cancer with the only help coming from a Grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) whom he despises and an absent Father (Toby Kebbell) who has a new family across an ocean and is only a fleeting part of his life. With no friends at school and a bully to contend with Conor confides and talks with the great Tree Monster (Liam Neeson) he imagines that comes to him.
Neeson’s voice exudes terror and the animation adds a real element of fear when we first meet the Monster, who demands to tell Conor three stories before Conor must share his own worst nightmare and speak the truth that he is afraid to say. The tales the monster tells are all of course things for Conor to learn to deal with his slowly deteriorating life, from his mother’s illness to standing up to his school bully with much moral ambiguity. These are beautifully rendered and bring a dark and fantastical element to the dreariness of Conor’s day to day life.
The film’s final acts bring out the best in all the performances, with Lewis MacDougall showing true talent when confronting Conor’s truth and Sigourney Weaver’s inexorable change from disdain and stern to soft and more helpless feeling like a natural arc. Felicity Jones also shows her breadth of ability and her scenes will leave many audience members weeping as the resonant heart of this all too familiar story.
J.A. Bayona brings to life the fantastical in what is at heart a human and grounded story of a young boy dealing with tribulations that would make most adults surrender. After the first tale things do slow down until an explosive finale, plus the fairy tales are both morally ambiguous and also ambiguous in what kind of audience they will reach. This feels at times quite a heavy subject for younger children whilst looking like a kid’s film whilst also not feeling entirely adult due to its focus on Conor’s struggle.
Its flaws a side A Monster Calls was an immersive story that quickly takes you in with the script from Patrick Ness and some excellent effects work. It is truly heart wrenching and real whilst bringing in the fun and utterly unbelievable.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Matt Spencer-Skeen – Follow me on Twitter
Originally published December 7, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
