A Monster Calls, released last year, had all the makings of a captivating film. With a young protagonist struggling with bullies, a strict grandmother, and a dying mother, the story takes a fantastical turn when a giant walking Yew tree monster comes to help him through his grief. The film’s trailer, showcasing the duo smashing things together, promised a cathartic blend of realistic drama and dark fantasy.
A Talented Team Behind the Scenes
The film boasts an impressive lineup of underappreciated filmmakers. Director J. A. Bayona, known for his 2007 Spanish-language horror film The Orphanage, seemed perfectly suited for the near-horror elements of the monster’s dramatic appearances. The cast includes Oscar nominees Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones, and Liam Neeson, alongside rising star Lewis MacDougall. Additionally, the novel’s author, Patrick Ness, wrote the film’s script, ensuring a faithful adaptation of the original text.
However, despite its promising elements, A Monster Calls falls short of its potential. While it is an incredibly well-made and moving story, its overly structured and unevenly written narrative fails to inspire the same emotional highs and lows of similar movies in recent years. It’s not the kind of movie that will have a long and celebrated post-theatrical life as a childhood classic.
Where the Film Falters
The main issue lies in the script, which spells out its repetitive structure from the monster’s first appearance and never misses an opportunity to remind us of it. The monster promises to tell the young boy three stories, each running parallel to events and people in his life, after which the boy is supposed to tell the monster a story of his own, revealing the truth about his recurring nightmares.
Each story is entertaining, gorgeously animated, spellbindingly narrated by the monster, and meaningfully builds on the day-to-day struggles of the boy’s difficult life. They present complicated morals that challenge the boy’s worldview, showing that heroes aren’t always good, villains aren’t always in the wrong, and the obvious consequences of one’s actions don’t play out quite how you’d expect.
These are important lessons for any children watching the movie to learn, lessons which are far too often glossed over or simplified into safe, sanitized morals. However, if the stories hadn’t been spelled out so rigidly and had been allowed to flow and develop more organically, A Monster Calls would have been less of a chore to get through.
Realistic Scenes Fall Flat
While the scenes with the monster are consistently fantastic, showcasing some of the best work of the cast and crew, the more realistic scenes are somewhat dull. The dramatic underpinnings of the film’s key relationships are largely left unexplored, making the surface-level drama left on screen not quite up to the task.
However, there’s not much else to complain about. Bayona is a solid presence throughout the film, particularly standing out in the almost horrific appearances of the monster. The cast does just as fine a job as you would expect of actors of their caliber. MacDougall is particularly excellent in this film; despite his age, he holds his own against far more experienced thespians and doesn’t falter when interacting with a CG Liam Neeson (where last year’s The Jungle Book tended to stumble).
A Monster Calls is arguably one of the best-looking movies of 2016. The monster’s effects are beautifully and imaginatively rendered on the screen. The multiple stories, presented in shadow puppet-esque animation, are worth the price of admission on their own. For all its failings as a compelling drama, it more than makes up for it in this aspect.
While it is far from the great movie that it initially presented itself as, it is a solid work of filmmaking that the entire family can enjoy. It tells hard, complicated truths that younger viewers will benefit from hearing and a mostly-serviceable narrative that the adults can enjoy for a couple of hours. Just don’t go too far out of your way to see it.
Rating: 3/5
Buy on BluRay: Only if you have kids
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