A Monster Calls

Year: 2016

Genre:Fantasy

Directed: J.A. Bayona

Stars: Lewis MacDougall, Felicity Jones, Sigourney Weaver, Toby Kebbell, Liam Neeson, Ben Moor, Jennifer Lim, James Melville, Oliver Steer, Dominic Boyle, Morgan Symes, Max Gabbay, Max Golds

Production: Apaches Entertainment

Somewhere in between this film’s vibrant colors, its collage of fluttering paint and its exquisite, rustic setting, a thought crossed my mind. Well two in fact, but more on that later. The disarmingly simple tale of a boy who conjures a monster to solve his problems is the kind that feels familiar. Yet with a surprising amount of maturity coupled with a frank exploration of grief, anguish and anger, A Monster Calls is unlike anything you have seen before. Watching A Monster Calls is like discovering a new chemical compound or mixing colors to make a startling new hue. That’s right, for the first time in a long time, I feel like I’ve watched something new.

The monster has been conjured by a nearby ewe tree, which is rooted in a cemetery a bit too close to the young Conor’s (MacDougall) home. He frequently has nightmares, exacerbated by the fact that his mother has been suffering from cancer for quite some time. At 12:07 the monster, a lumbering assemblage of branches and roots, stops in to tell three stories. “The fourth you must tell and you must speak the truth,” the monster says. Yet with Conor’s intermittent struggles with his oppressive grandmother, his absent father and the bullies in school, the monsters stories sound more to him like elaborate riddles than anything that might help ease his pain.

The story itself has a fable-like quality that soothes the soul with lessons that, to this day remain frightfully undervalued. When not interweaving artful displays of special-effects, the film beautifully and honestly brings its characters to life – warts and all. Lewis MacDougall, instincts are absolutely at one with the story – he finds the perfect moments to reveal Conor’s inner-life and seems to have internalized what his mother says about what makes his drawings more real; “It’s all in the eyes.” Felicity Jones, Sigourney Weaver, Toby Kebbell also all find their footing like singers naturally adjusted and practiced for their harmonies. While Jones recoils, Weaver propels; when Jones beams, Kebbell simpers. What we get at the end, is a symphony of feeling. One in which director J.A. Bayona is its stalwart conductor.

And as a conductor, Bayona uses a wide range of visual cues and storytelling techniques to his advantage, to set the appropriate tone. When the monster leers at the paralyzed boy, branches crack and knot around the mis en scene in glorious texture. When the monster recalls tales of long ago, the screen explodes in scenes of animated watercolor. And lest you think things are only interesting when the monster calls, the set design is so rich with story enhancing detail that not a frame of this film loses impetus.

Which brings me to my second, not so gracious thought; with a movie so honest, I honestly wonder who this movie is for. Its messages are so clearly displayed and its themes are so outwardly depressing that I fear audiences would run the other way before taking a chance on it. In addition, the film wraps things up much like a fable, going so far as to announce the moral of the story, which leads me to believe this film’s prime demographic is children. Show me a parent with enough faith in their child to bring them to A Monster Calls and the popcorn is on me. As the monster himself said, “People would rather live with a comforting lie than the truth, knowing full well they need the truth to tell the lie.”

 

I approve of your parenting...

I doubt many will see A Monster Calls, despite its pedigree, despite its special-effects and despite its new and refreshing story. This is a movie that will reach deeper than you’re used to, ask more of you than you’re used to and give you the feels way, way more than you’re used to. Some may find that notion too hard and shy away. I for one found this film and its endgame positively vital.

Final Grade: A-