Review 448: A Monster Calls

A Monster Call is beautifully made and touching coming-of-age, Dark fantasy film.

Based on the novel A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, Connor O'Malley (Lewis McDougall) is a twelve-year-old who is dealing with the fact that his mother, Elizabeth "Lizzie" (Felicity Jones) is terminally ill. He doesn't connect with his cold, emotionally distant Grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) and his father, Liam (Toby Kebbel) has resettled in the United States. Connor then embarks on a journey of self-discovery when he finds an unlikely in the form of a tree-like monster (Liam Neeson) who appears at his bedroom window one night. The monster promises that he will return and tell him three stories after which Connor must tell his own.

The plot is touchingly poignant

Thematically, A Monster Calls is about greif and how Connor O'Malley deals with that greif, specifically the greif caused by his mother's illness.

 

Denial: 

Director J. A. Bayona's direction is a sensitive, effectively the cinematography is gorgeous and captures the grim but fantastical atmosphere of the English village the film takes place in.
The production design is excellent, the costumes are terrific, the special effects are spectacular, the titular monster in particualr is master of motion capture technology and the final result is as beautiful as it is terrifying, the score by Fernando Velázquez is beautiful and the effect of the closing scene is heartbreaking.

The acting is terrific, Lewis McDougall.  Connor doesn't particularly like his grandmother because she's such a contrast from  It's made perfectly clear from the off that his mother's illness is causing him a lot of emotional pain.

Subconsciously, Connor wants his mother to die because watching her suffer until the end is just to painful for him to beare and he wants their pain to end. Unfortunately, the end will only come with her death which he (understandably) doesn't want to happen

Liam Neeson is superbly cast playing the "Monster", a mysterious, monsterous  It has a different philosophy from

 

Felicity Jones, Toby Kebbell and Sigourney Weaver all do strong work playing Connor's mother Elizabeth "Lizzie", his father Liam and his Grandmother respectively. Weaver  On the outset, Connor's Grandmother is a strict, cold figure who seems entirely disagreeable. As the film unfolds, however, the

Jones also deserves notice not just for capturing the warm, maternal nature required for the character but also for also playing someone with a terminal illness.

4/5.

The Anonymous Critic.