A young boy, bullied at school and trying to cope as his mother suffers a terminal illness, finds himself visited by a monster who lives in an old tree...
A Monster Calls had a tragic beginning. The novel was written by Patrick Ness, who also writes the film screenplay. However the idea for the novel came from Siobhan Dowd who tragically died and the idea and book were then taken up by Ness. Dowd passed away from breast cancer and one can't help but wonder if it was having cancer that in turn, made her come up with the story, A Monster Calls.
I've never read the novel, but the film really is something special. It is helped by having an outstanding performance from Lewis MacDougall as Conor at its heart. On screen for the entire film he's outstanding in the film. Without such a strong central performance, the film doesn't work and MacDougall totally carries the film.
It helps he has such a strong cast round him. Felicity Jones plays his mother and is as good as ever. Sigourney Weaver plays the grandmother and is terrific in a more complex role than you might think. Toby Kebbell plays his dad. a man who lives with his new family in Los Angeles and caught between wanting to help his son, but doesn't know how to and his new life. The supporting cast are all terrific too. The monster's voice is supplied by Liam Neeson and it's a good vocal performance.
The monster itself, is as I understand it a mixture of practical effects and some CGI. It's a tremendous creation. In fact, all the effects practical and visual are superbly done.
The film is stunningly directed by J. A. Boyna. He blends the 'real life' and 'fantasy' strands of the story brilliantly, The stories the Monster tells a brilliantly rendered in animated form, their meaning confusing Conor at first, until it's all revealed at the end, including Conor's own truth.
And that's the key to the brilliance of A Monster Calls. Boyna manages to keep the sentimentality in check. In a lesser director's hands, it would be over sentimental and lose the emotional impact the story has. But Boyna, with a terrific script from Ness, avoids this. making the emotional impact hurt not just Conor in the film, but also the audience watching.
It's a heartbreaking film, devastating emotionally and yet, in its final moments offers a moment of hope. It deals with powerful themes of grief and facing up to loss and handles them very well indeed. There really is nothing to fault here.
Because of the themes it deals with, despite the 12A classification (in the UK), this is not a film for children, I think, especially younger ones. The themes here will be too much for some of them. In fact, the themes here might to too much for some adults too. I should know. I've seen many films over the years that have had an emotional impact on me, but A Monster Calls did something in the cinema no other film has ever done. It made me cry.
The blend of fantasy and the real world recalls a film like Pan's Labyrinth and A Monster Calls can sit proudly alongside Del Toro's masterpiece, it is that good a film. It's an extraordinary film, one I would recommend to anyone, even with the emotional devastation the film will cause.
A Monster Calls is one of the first films I've seen at the cinema this year. Based on this, I cannot see there being that many films coming out that will be better than it.
It's already a contender for my 2017 film of the year.
Don't miss it.
Rating - 5/5
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