By: Kevan Maloney
Freelancer

“A Monster Calls” is a fantastic story that hooks you in from the first few minutes. It is a movie adaptation of the novel by Patrick Ness and directed by J.A. Bayona. This movie sports a great cast, featuring Felicity Jones, Sigourney Weaver and Liam Neeson.

The acting was almost perfect. Other than a few superfluous details that stuck to me, the acting was incredible. The cast brought everything together so well that, for most of the movie, I forgot I was watching a movie. I felt as though I was apart of the life of the protagonist, Conor, who was played by Lewis McDougall.

Something that caught me off guard was the theme of the film. I came in expecting a children’s movie, but got a story with heavy themes: bullying, depression and grief, to name a few. I can say without a doubt that this is a more mature movie and should be treated as such.

One of the best parts of the movie was the monster. The monster is a giant, living yew tree voiced by Liam Neeson, giving the effect of a wise old man while keeping the scary factor of a monster. The CGI look of the monster also looked amazing. It made sense that a tree monster would have his joints very clearly groan at even the slightest of movements. The monster is probably my favorite character in the movie because his actions felt important and helped to drive the plot along.

However, despite all the film’s great qualities, it does lack rewatch value. I didn’t get the desire to watch it a second or third time.

I think “A Monster Calls” is a great film. From the acting of the main casting, including Liam Neeson’s voice acting, to the hard hitting and very relevant themes of the movie, “A Monster Calls” provides an entertaining and compelling experience from start to finish. Overall, this movie is great but it is very dark and sad.

8.0/10
+ Fantastic Acting
+ Amazing Story
+ Great adult themes
– No Re-watchability

Contact the author at kmaloney15@wou.edu