Review of A Monster Calls (2016) by Brentano — 06 Jan 2017

After this movie was over, I was speechless. The whole theater didn't say a word. I think that explains enough what kind of an experience this movie gives you. This movie grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go.

I read the book, and I was hoping that the movie would be a similar experience. It did. The book made me cry my eyes out and the movie as well. It's just a great and compelling coming of age story of a boy who's mother has cancer and doesn't know how to deal with it.

The acting performances where all great. The standout, by far, is of course Lewis MacDougall, who plays the character of Conor. This kid can act for sure, he was amazing and gave a chilling performance.

Liam Neeson as the monster was a great casting choice. He gave the emotional dept to the character which I felt in the book. The CG of the monster was flawless and looked awesome. I liked the way Juan Antonio Bayona directed this movie.

There was attention to every detail. Like the editing, most people don't pay any attention to this, but it was greatly done in this movie. And you see that the director understands the story and what it tries to tell us.

But I do have an issue here. It's a minor one. In the book the relationship between Conor and his mother is much more broaden then it is portrayed in the movie. I wanted them to have more screen time.

Because then the end would have been more of an impact then. I'm not saying the ending is bad. They also added a scene at the end which wasn't in the book. I think that scene brought the whole movie together as a whole.

And to bad they cut out Lily, the friend of Conor in the book. So yeah, this movie was really amazing and I recommend it to everyone.