A Monster Calls is a visually stunning film that really hits the emotions hard. Directed by J.A. Bayona and written by Patrick Ness, the film stars Lewis MacDougall as Connor whose mother is sick. Felicity Jones plays his mother who is trying to be there for her son even though she’s clearly dying. Sigourney Weaver plays her mother who is very particular and is trying to prepare for taking in her grandson if things get worse. It’s a setup for an emotional that takes a dip into the fantastical.
A Monster Calls is as visually beautiful as the story is touching
Conor is visited by a giant tree monster, voiced by Liam Neeson, in a dream and warns him that’ll he will return. Each time he’ll tell Conor a story and on the fourth visit Conor must tell him his story. This storytelling device allows for some gorgeously animated moments. Two of the stories are animated in a watercolor style that looks amazing. The stories all are intriguing and help to initially confuse Conor. However, they ultimately pay off for both us and him.
A major element of the film is how the adults keep treating Conor. They’re afraid of upsetting him, they keep things from him, and ultimately are afraid to treat him like everybody else. These moments are brilliantly shot to put the audience in the perspective of Conor. He’s aware of their presence, but the substance is slightly out of focus. There is a decent amount of hand held cam to convey various emotions. Bayona definitely gets his message across visually.
Lewis MacDougall does a great job in this film. He interacts with a CG monster very well and really sells the emotions he is going through. That may not sends that impressive, but he basically has to exhibit every emotion. He is sad, angry, worried, happy, afraid, and relieved. MacDougall succeeds in being relatable and sympathetic.
Final Thoughts
A Monster Calls broke me at least three different times. Tears flowed heavily, but that’s definitely towards the end. I enjoyed the storytelling devices used and there are some very quotable lines in the film. It’s well acted and absolutely gorgeous. It would be easy to spend more time on Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones, and Liam Neeson as they were all great, but it’s worth seeing for yourself. A Monster Calls gets the Not Quite Golden, Ponyboy rating.
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