A Monster Calls

J.A. Bayona's new film uses fantasy to reckon with unbearable tragedy.

3028d ago

Children aren’t very good at seeing outside of themselves. If they’re doing the work of being children, selfishness comes with the territory–and learning that others feel things keenly too is where adulthood begins.

3028d ago

A Monster Calls dials up a nostalgic and superb coming-of-age journey that'll have audiences grabbing all the hankies.

3028d ago

Adaptation of Patrick Ness' novel digs deep into imagination and comes up with grand, moving statement on grief.

3028d ago

This film thankfully isn’t a dramatic piece gunning for awards glory, but rather a heartwarming adventure through the emotional landscape of a child unsure how to live.

3028d ago

A luscious, painterly fantasy overcast with sadness.

3028d ago

Fairy tales and family tragedy converge in the kid-friendly melodrama A Monster Calls.

3028d ago

After decades of animated princesses and animal sidekicks, the words fairy tale tend to evoke thoughts of lessons learned and happy endings, but there is nothing Disney about this gothic tale from director J.A. Bayona (The Impossible).

3028d ago

Older audiences braced for tragedy may be drawn to its imaginative visuals — the stories told by the monster are rendered in delicate, painterly animation — and to the achingly vulnerable, growing-up-too-fast boy at its center.

3028d ago

The movie is memorable for its stunning and inventive imagery, especially when the tree-monster’s tales spring to life as little works of art set in motion. Those tales provide a beautiful respite from the grim reality of Conor’s life, both for him and for the audience. But that respite won’t last forever, and our hero eventually will have to face his emotions and learn to channel them properly. Viewers don’t have to be nearly so stoic: They can just let the tears flow.

3028d ago

A lot of colleagues seem to have been under the impression—maybe because of the title combined with the fact that director J.A. Bayona made “The Orphanage”—that this is a straight-up genre film, a conventional monster movie.

3028d ago

A 12-year-old boy develops a friendship with a fantastical tree-being (voiced by Liam Neeson) in this wrenching magical-realist drama about love and mortality. Conor (Lewis MacDougall), a budding artist like his ailing mother (Felicity Jones of “Rogue One”), takes it in stride when a nearby yew tree sprouts arms, legs and Neeson’s booming voice and visits him, vowing to tell him three stories and then demand one in return.

3028d ago

It’s a catharsis painted with bold, noisy imagery, one that makes death an overwhelming tsunami. If 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.

3028d ago

A Monster Calls gets off to a rocky start, but once Neeson's talking tree starts spouting tales of wisdom, everything tightens as the tears start flowing.

3028d ago

A Monster Calls is based upon screenwriter Patrick Ness’ award-winning 2011 fantasy novel of the same name, which in turn was based upon an idea by the late Siobhan Dowd to help children cope with a loved one’s incurable illness.

3028d ago

This family weepie about a boy who imagines a monster to cope with the impending loss of his mother tugs at the heartstrings and aims for wonder – but still comes up a little short.

3028d ago

Though visually stunning, J.A. Bayona's gothic fable about an angry boy and the massive tree monster who comes to his rescue is all bark and no bite.

3028d ago

A Monster Calls is both governed and straitjacketed by director J.A. Bayona’s competent impersonality.

3028d ago