A Monster Calls
The director of The Impossible and The Orphanage adapts the award-winning children’s fantasy novel about a bullied boy with an ill mother whose problems are put into order by a giant tree monster. Stars Academy Award nominees Sigourney Weaver, Liam Neeson, and Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything).
- Director:
- J.A. Bayona ('The Orphanage', 'The Impossible')
- Writer:
- Patrick Ness
- Cast:
- Lewis MacDougallSigourney WeaverLiam NeesonFelicity JonesToby KebbellGeraldine ChaplinJennifer Lim
Reviews & comments
Flicks, Liam Maguren
flicksI remember being a kid and wanting a giant creature to help me out during difficult times. I suspect it’s a common fantasy, with films like Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbour Totoro and Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are tapping into the active imaginations of children. But what if you’re moving from childhood to adolescence? And what if your struggles aren’t as simple as good triumphing over evil? A Monster Calls explores the darkest of grey areas experienced at a tender age, creating a cinematic masterwork in visualised empathy.
a gut-wrenching tale about death and grieving
Don’t be fooled: it may be labelled a fantasy but the content of A Monster Calls (2016) is brutally realistic. And ignore the trailer: it does not come remotely close to describing a story of the horrors inside a young boy’s mind as he helplessly watches his mother deal with terminal illness. Too bleak for young audiences and mislabelled for those older, it...
Nice, but no great shakes, family film
Whilst I went in wanting to fall head over heels for The Impossible and The Orphanage director J.A. Bayona’s latest, I was left disappointed. Nicely acted, directed and shot, and a pleasant family film (I watched with mine), it fails to reach the heights of more ambitious fantasies, such as, say, Pan’s Labyrinth or the recent Okja. Sigourney Weaver,...
Variety
pressA splendidly rendered, yet oddly ill-conceived terminal-illness melodrama that feels much too dark and serious for audiences Conor's age, and an even more curious fit for grown-ups.
Time Out
pressThere's a truly monstrous film lurking in here somewhere, but Bayona seems hell-bent on keeping it at bay.
The New Yorker
pressThe movie delivers its meaning repeatedly to make sure that no one misses the point; its lessons, rendered even more explicitly than the ones in Conor's classroom, are missing only the chalkboard and pointer.
The New York Times
pressIf you prefer to view dying as a natural part of life, a step in a cycle, this film will feel discordant and perhaps counterproductive. But visually it will certainly stick with you, and your children.
Sydney Morning Herald
pressStarts to fall apart the moment we ask just how the metaphor is meant to function.
Rolling Stone
pressEvocative, mysterious and shot through with bruising humour and heartbreak, A Monster Calls-with a deeply-felt performance from Felicity Jones- gets you where you live. There's real magic in it.
Los Angeles Times
press"Monster" is almost too ambitious to be completely realised. But when it works, which is most of the time, its story has a power which lingers in the mind.
Hollywood Reporter
pressA sensitive and beautifully made lesson in the limits and power of storytelling.
FilmInk
pressThe resolution to Conor’s inner turmoil is itself satisfying and as complex as one could hope, especially for a kids’ movie.
Flicks, Liam Maguren
flicksI remember being a kid and wanting a giant creature to help me out during difficult times. I suspect it’s a common fantasy, with films like Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbour Totoro and Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are tapping into the active imaginations of children. But what if you’re moving from childhood to adolescence? And what if your struggles aren’t as simple as good triumphing over evil? A Monster Calls explores the darkest of grey areas experienced at a tender age, creating a cinematic masterwork in visualised empathy.
Variety
pressA splendidly rendered, yet oddly ill-conceived terminal-illness melodrama that feels much too dark and serious for audiences Conor's age, and an even more curious fit for grown-ups.
Time Out
pressThere's a truly monstrous film lurking in here somewhere, but Bayona seems hell-bent on keeping it at bay.
The New Yorker
pressThe movie delivers its meaning repeatedly to make sure that no one misses the point; its lessons, rendered even more explicitly than the ones in Conor's classroom, are missing only the chalkboard and pointer.
The New York Times
pressIf you prefer to view dying as a natural part of life, a step in a cycle, this film will feel discordant and perhaps counterproductive. But visually it will certainly stick with you, and your children.
Sydney Morning Herald
pressStarts to fall apart the moment we ask just how the metaphor is meant to function.
Rolling Stone
pressEvocative, mysterious and shot through with bruising humour and heartbreak, A Monster Calls-with a deeply-felt performance from Felicity Jones- gets you where you live. There's real magic in it.
Los Angeles Times
press"Monster" is almost too ambitious to be completely realised. But when it works, which is most of the time, its story has a power which lingers in the mind.
Hollywood Reporter
pressA sensitive and beautifully made lesson in the limits and power of storytelling.
FilmInk
pressThe resolution to Conor’s inner turmoil is itself satisfying and as complex as one could hope, especially for a kids’ movie.
a gut-wrenching tale about death and grieving
Don’t be fooled: it may be labelled a fantasy but the content of A Monster Calls (2016) is brutally realistic. And ignore the trailer: it does not come remotely close to describing a story of the horrors inside a young boy’s mind as he helplessly watches his mother deal with terminal illness. Too bleak for young audiences and mislabelled for those older,...
Nice, but no great shakes, family film
Whilst I went in wanting to fall head over heels for The Impossible and The Orphanage director J.A. Bayona’s latest, I was left disappointed. Nicely acted, directed and shot, and a pleasant family film (I watched with mine), it fails to reach the heights of more ambitious fantasies, such as, say, Pan’s Labyrinth or the recent Okja. Sigourney Weaver,...
Share