A Monster Calls Film Review

Finished watching A Monster Calls, directed by J. A. Bayona and staring Lewis MacDougall, Felicity Jones, Sigourney Weaver and Liam Neeson. The film opens up with Conor O'Malley (Lewis MacDougall) who helps his terminal ill mum, Lizzie (Felicity Jones) while also dealing with trouble at school of being bullied. One day when he gets back home Conor's grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) tells Conner that she will be taking care of him for a while as Lizzie goes back into hospital for more treatment. While all of this is going on a tree next to a local church which can be seen from Conor's bedroom comes to life revealing himself to be a tree like being (Liam Neeson) telling Conor that he has been summoned for Conor to tell him his story after the monster has told Conor three stories. Overall this was a great film as it deals with a very real world topic with Lizzie's illness and the monster's used with in the film makes perfect scenes after a couple reveals later in the film that makes his role even more impactful. There is a great amount of emotion that is conveyed by some stellar acting and a just as stellar script that makes each character's interactions extremely relatable and understandable. The watercolour animation used for the Monster's stories is breathtaking in places thanks to the amount of detail that goes into the animation while the design of the monster himself is designed just as good. 8.5/10.