Review of A Monster Calls (2016) by Glenn G — 31 Dec 2016

GET AWAY FROM HIM, YOU BRANCH! - My Review of A MONSTER CALLS (4 Stars).

While I enjoyed J.A. Bayona's feature debut, THE ORPHANAGE, I was less than enthusiastic about his follow-up, THE IMPOSSIBLE. With the infinite number of stories that could have been told about the 2004 tsunami, I felt he could have chosen a better one than that of a family which literally walks through the rubble to locate each other. Not only wasn't it filled with obstacles, but Bayona, who's Spanish, literally whitewashed the true tale of a Spanish family by casting Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor in the roles. It did, however, display an incredible visual sense and a way with young actors.

With A MONSTER CALLS, in which Patrick Ness, the author of the book, skillfully adapted for the screen, Bayona brings it all together for an emotionally wrenching, thrilling, wise film filled with impeccable performances and a beautiful look at coping with loss. His lead actor, the fantastic Lewis MacDougall, plays Conor, a bullied young man who lives with his terminally ill mother (Felicity Jones). She shields him from the truth about her diagnosis, but he's still riddled with anxiety, with a recurring nightmare underlining that fact. One night, he's visited upon by a Monster (voiced by Liam Neeson), who emerges from a Yew tree outside his window. The Monster pretty much provides the framework of the film by saying to Conor that he'll tell him three stories, after which Conor will tell him one, and that it will have to be the painful truth of his worst nightmare.

As his mother's condition deteriorates, his controlling Grandma (Sigourney Weaver) and absent father (Toby Kebbell) come to visit, further providing a window into Conor's hidden wells of anger. Luckily, the Monster's stories provide a distraction for our hero, and they're a true work of art. It's established early on that Conor and his mother enjoy art when we see her instructing him. He also sketches in school and dabbles in watercolors. Thus, the Monster's stories, using wonderful watercolor animation, feel organic to the story and prove completely immersive. As each unfolds, they resonate with the film's themes of the unfairness of life, the complex nature of humans, and the difficult choices we all face.

It would be easy to categorize A MONSTER CALLS as an intense film for children, but there's such magic here that all ages will enjoy. It reminded me in a way of E.T. and PAN'S LABYRINTH, two films with harrowing moments that proved instructive to young viewers. Here's another film with fantastical elements used to explain real pain which peels back the layers to reveal raw emotion about something traumatic.

Bayona shows really dexterity with the camera that gives this film such power and sweep, yet also plenty of soft, intimate moments. HIs frequent collaborator, cinematographer Oscar Faura, lights the dramatic scenes with such empathy that the grandiose moments never seem to overshadow them. Despite all of the huge effects, I will most remember this film as a series of gorgeous shots of Conor peering through doorways.

In addition to McDougall, who shows a wide range and knows how to make quiet observation look compelling, Bayona gets an achingly good performance out of Jones. We see her deterioration through Conor's POV, which is sometimes hidden from him, so each scene comes with the shock of seeing her falling apart. Through it all, Jones valiantly puts on a brave face for her son and tries to tell him everything he needs to know in order to cope. It's truly remarkable work.

Neeson, who was filmed with motion capture, delivers one of his best performances, providing just the right amount of menace to the imposing character he plays. While this isn't the scary movie its title implies, Neeson's performance still manages to keep you on edge.

Weaver has so many moving moments in the film one can forgive her less-than-perfect English accent. Didn't she learn her lesson from THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY? She's a great actor who can't do accents. Not everyone is Meryl Streep, but she still shows true power here. However you feel about her performance, just try not to be wrecked in the scene with the passing train.

Keep those hankies out, because you're likely to sob at least 20-30 times in its final act. Ok, I'm exaggerating a tad, but there's a scene where characters finally speak from the heart, and it wrecked me. I saw my mother fight her battle with cancer when I was 28, so perhaps this story got under my skin more than it might to the casual viewer, but losing someone and figuring out what to do with the misery and horror it entails is universal. Some may find this film a little too simplistic or too on-the-nose. It definitely suffers from that here and there, but all told, there's real art in A MONSTER CALLS.