"A Monster Calls" (2016) is an amazing film
I'm often not a fan of kids in movies, they can be annoying or I don't buy the role they portray. Also, films about families that deal with a serious illness and how to deal with it are usually not what I watch.
"A Monster Calls" has both of those elements and I loved it. It's about 12 year Conor and his mother, who has been diagnosed with cancer and has tried different treatments. The grandmother, a rather strict woman, tries to help, but Conor finds her cold and wants nothing to do with her.
What drew me in initially was the "monster" - a giant tree/tree monster that springs from Conor's imagination and helps him deal with his situation and confront his problems (his mother, but also bullies at school). Visually the monster looks great, its voice (Liam Neeson) is perfect and the way they use it is very engaging. It tells Conor some short stories that look like they are drawn with watercolors (like this) and are supposed to help him figure things out. These fantastical and visual elements made me interested in the movie and held my interest so that at some point I started caring about the characters and their problems. It does get sad, but also has its beautiful moments. That said, the story itself certainly isn't anything new nor is it overly subtle. That doesn't mean it's bad, it worked for me, but I thought it should be mentioned. It think film also needs a few minutes to find its footing.
Beyond the visuals, the performances by the actors need to be mentioned. Lewis McDougall as Conor is fantastic and Felicity Jones as the mother and Sigourney Weaver as grandmother are very good as well.
I think many people don't know about this film, I only watched it because I saw it on Amazon Prime (Germany). Because of the vivid images, some of it might look like a kid's movie, but I don't know at what age kids want and can deal with a topic like this. It is based on a novel, which is for children, so that might cause some confusion and probably didn't help it's disappointing box office run ($47m on a $43m budget). Anyway, I think it's well worth your time (about 1h40) and you should give it a go, especially if you are receptive to tear-jerker movies, which I would say this is.
Trailer (tbh I'm not a fan of the music, doesn't capture the film's atmosphere)
Submitted June 14, 2018 at 10:21PM by AaronBrownell https://ift.tt/2Mqxnth
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