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A Monster Calls Review
Taming The Monster
♦Tripwire’s editor-in-chief takes a look at A Monster Calls, the new children’s fantasy film out now and directed by JA Bayona…
A Monster Calls
Director: JA Bayona
Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones, Lewis MacDougall
Based on the children’s book of the same name by Patrick Ness, Lewis MacDougall is Conor, a young boy who turns to a tree spirit to help him cope with his mother’s terminal illness. The ubiquitous Toby Kebbell plays his dad while Sigourney Weaver is his grandmother. Liam Neeson is the voice of the tree spirit.
Many kids films feel very generic and created by committee but A Monster Calls never falls into this trap. Filmed in the north of England, Bayona uses the settings here to great effect. Jones is pretty good here as the terminally ill mother and Weaver comes across as very likeable as does MacDougall. Neeson is also very good as the tree spirit, showing an aptitude for voice talent.
It would have been all too easy to move the action to some small American town but because the filmmakers didn’t, it makes it feel all the more refreshing and new.
A Monster Calls deals with loss and grief in a very understated and subtle way. The beginning of the year is usually filled with Oscar worthy dramas and this is a very well-made and touching young adults movie with a strong cast and a proper emotional core to it. Filmgoers who enjoy quality young adult fantasy should check it out.
JOEL MEADOWS
A Monster Calls is out in UK cinemas now
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