Monster’s heart in the right place
A MONSTER CALLS
Lewis MacDougall, Felicity Jones, Sigourney Weaver, Liam Neeson
The best guidance can sometimes come from the strangest source. A MONSTER Calls sets many challenges, both for itself and its audience.
It’s a kids’ movie that tackles topics kids may be unwilling or unable to process. It tries to talk in accessible ways about heavy, meaningful issues by using some pretty obvious metaphors.
That can make it a tough sell, either as an escape into a fantasy world or as an observation about how we’re affected by the most life-shaking of events.
But there’s such sincerity in A Monster Calls, such a desire to express deep, inescapable truths, that focusing on its faults seems kind of insignificant, even petty.
Having said that, this strikes me as the type of film that will well and truly connect with some viewers while leaving others unmoved. Stories with a wholly individual point of view told by a distinctive voice have a tendency to do that.
Director J.A. Bayona — the maker of a sad and understated Spanish ghost story called The Orphanage — worked with author Patrick Ness to adapt Ness’s children’s book, which was originally an idea by the late writer Siobhan Dowd.
The Monster of the title is a walking, talking tree with literal fire in its belly and the gruff growl of Liam Neeson, but even as this creature haunts young Conor (Lewis MacDougall), it’s clear that the boy is dealing with another monster just as terrifying.
Conor’s mother, Lizzie, (Felicity Jones) is extremely ill. Isolated from his absentee father (Toby Kebbell) and intimidated by his stern grandmother (Sigourney Weaver), Conor is struggling to make sense of what is happening in his world.
It’s only when the Monster arrives late at night that there’s hope of some honesty from someone. It says it will tell Conor three stories that will help him understand what’s going on. In return, however, Conor must share one story of his own with the Monster. And it must be something true.
Using the imagination to interpret and comprehend the unimaginable has long been a mainstay of fiction, and A Monster Calls recognises the solace a person can draw from viewing reality through the prism of wonder.
But the movie also acknowledges the messiness of thoughts and feelings, and how a clear narrative or a happy ending isn’t always on the cards, despite the best intentions of a story’s character or teller.
It’s a big ask for the talented Bayona, a fine visual stylist and a sensitive dramatist, to make this complicated material accessible, let alone appealing.
But even when some scenes feel clunky or overplayed, there’s still an innate honesty to A Monster Calls — a desire to treat young Conor with care while understanding that he must come to terms with some of the harsher truths of life.
It’s an unusual film, and not always a successful one, but its head is frequently in the right place. And its heart always is.