Review of A Monster Calls (2016) by Frame R — 03 Apr 2018

I got the chance to see the Guardians of the Galaxy spin off "A Monster Calls" - Groot's Revenge!

It will take a while until this film is released in the States and... it feels nice to be one of the first! This film is directed by J.A. Bayona who managed to do a quite stunning feat: his three films were The Orphanage, The Impossible and this one. The first is a tense and masterfully built horror movie, the second is an emotional disaster flick and the last is a kind and moving allegoric drama! He has been so consistent and so varied that it's exciting to see what he does next. (Can't wait for his take on the Jurassic World sequel). "A Monster Calls" may have one of the most misleading trailers of the year. It's not a fantasy film about a dendraphiliac kid (look it up! or... ugh, don't), it's not the boring BFG, it's not your usual boy meets monster movie. It feels very fresh as it's about a boy with a mother dying of cancer and him dealing with it through The Monster, a metaphor for his journey. How can a talking tree so beautifully mean the acceptance of his conflicting feelings, the personification of loss and mostly the understanding of death. The visual effects are fairly good, Sigourney Weaver and Felicity Jones are splendidly layered and I can't praise the casting of Liam Neeson as The Monster enough! Maybe his best role since Schindler, really! The score also positively impressed me as it doesn't waste its presence when it isn't justified. When it does come along, it's saying something important and complementing the film in a triumphant way. This detail may seem small, but there are not a lot of filmmakers out there that, while having at his disposal of the means to have a score from start to finish, know just when to fit it. Also, Bayona compiles a sequence of scenes that range from the truly scary to the deeply touching where every tear on your face feels effortless (the filmmaker doesn't shove a sad violin down your throat for you to cry, you just do). Yes the film suffers from some pacing and tone problems and the script could be bettered, but it stills beats most offers that are out today. When the time comes, the monster will surely call you!