A Monster Calls (2017) - Film Review
Starring: Lewis MacDougall, Felicity Jones, Sigourney Weaver & Liam Neeson
Screenplay: Patrick Ness
Directed By: J.A. Bayona
Certificate: 12
As
far as breakouts into the world of film and TV go, it's been quite a
busy time for Patrick Ness lately. Already an accomplished author of
mostly young adult fiction, the past few months have seen him write
and serve as an executive producer on the Doctor Who
spin-off, Class, and now he's performing the same roles
on a film adaptation of his novel, A Monster Calls.
Personally speaking, I'm in something of a rare position here, as I'm
going into the film version of A Monster Calls … and
I've already read the book!! Now that might not sound like a big
deal, but trust me, it almost never happens that way round for me. So
seeing as I'm already familiar with the original material, is the A
Monster Calls film on par with the book?
Twelve
year-old Conor O'Malley lives with his terminally-ill mother, and has
to deal with his strict grandmother, estranged father, and bullies at
school. Afraid of soon having to go and live with his grandmother and
being left alone, one night Conor is visited by a tree-like monster.
The monster promises Conor that each night at 12:07AM, he will return
and tell him a different story. The monster will tell him three
stories, before it is finally time for Conor to tell the monster a
fourth – his own truth.
One
of many great things A Monster Calls does is to fuse
fantastical elements with hard realism, and the result is something
truly special. In my experience with Patrick Ness, he seems to have a
really magical storytelling style, one that could easily become
pretentious, but rarely does because nine times out of ten, he knows
when to reel things back in. A Monster Calls is no
exception to this. He also understands how we can apply many
fantastical fairytales to real life, which is essentially what the
monster (who's own origins are left unclear) teaches Conor to do over
the course of the film. The sequences in which we see and hear the
monster's stories are basically great little short films in their own
right anyway, but they still serve a purpose to Conor's larger story.
The film is also fit to burst with real heart and emotion, and I
don't think it's possible to make it to the end credits without
welling up at some point. I'm serious, while I can regularly feel sad
or upset whilst watching a film or something on the TV, it's very
rare that anything can produce genuine tears out of me, but A
Monster Calls is one of the few that can manage it.
Something
else Patrick Ness once again proves is that he understands young
adults incredibly well, and has crafted a beautiful coming of age
story (“A boy too old to be a kid, but too young to be a man”).
Whilst staying faithful to the original book, he demonstrates his
understanding of a young adult's responsibilities, how easy it is for
some to become overlooked and invisible to those around them, but
never becomes patronizing. Many boys and girls around Conor's age are
more mature than many others may give them credit for, with Conor
having to look after the house, his mother and keep a great deal of
his own life in check. Meanwhile, Conor has to further put up with a
strict grandmother, an estranged father, bullies at school and much
more. The film goes on to tap into what all this can result in, and
how it's easy for someone like Conor to experience a basic desire for
destruction, as shown when he basically destroys his gran's living
room and puts his school bully in hospital. The scene in question of
Conor destroying his gran's living room is also a genuine
heart-in-the-mouth moment, and Sigourney Weaver's performance in it
is just … perfect.
Speaking
of performances, A Monster Calls can boast a terrific
cast, led by Lewis MacDougall as Conor. Child acting can be a
notoriously difficult area to get right, and in a film like A
Monster Calls, it could have become a make or break situation
… but I could never have anticipated just how phenomenal Lewis
MacDougall would be here. In the space of about a hundred minutes, he
demonstrates how powerful, emotional and believable he is as an
actor, and I take great confidence in saying that he is one of the
most capable child actors I've ever seen. He had me completely
invested in each scene, and when the time comes for Conor to tell the
monster his story in the graveyard, the performance just blew me
away. It's worth listening out for Lewis MacDougall's name in the
near future, as he has the capability to go on to great things. He's
supported by an accomplished cast of some surprisingly big names,
such as Liam Neeson who is perfectly cast as Conor's monster. His
voice work strangely enough falls somewhere between his roles as
Aslan in the Narnia films and Bad Cop from The
LEGO Movie, but he does a great job at making the monster
feel wise and ancient. Sigourney Weaver portrays Conor's grandmother,
and though her role isn't the biggest, she's still just as good as
you'd expect, her English accent is on point and as I've said, the
moment she discovers what Conor has done to her living room is a
definite highlight. Rounding off this stellar cast, we have Felicity
Jones as Conor's mother. With this and her role in The Theory
Of Everything, I'm realizing just how varied and talented she
is as an actor, and together with her recent role in Rogue One,
I'm glad to see her getting the credit she deserves.
For
a screenplay as rich as this, it was great to see it go hand in hand
with such high production values. A Monster Calls is
visually stunning and beautifully directed by J.A. Bayona, whose
other works I must admit I haven't seen anything of, but judging from
his work here, he seems to be a very capable director. The CGI
monster, which was partially brought to life through use of motion
capture technology, does look very good, and while some may argue
it's a little cartoon-ish, I think that's mostly because of how
fantastical it is when set against a real-life backdrop. During the
monster's stories, the film gets a chance to show what it can put its
$43m budget towards, with some truly beautiful animated sequences
that help to visualize evil queens, princes and apothecaries. With
its use of watercolour, these segments are somewhat reminiscent of
anime, and with the fairytale stories they tell, this feels very
appropriate. Something else I quickly want to point out is the film's
rich and wonderful use of colour, particularly reds, oranges and
yellows, which not only fits in with a kind of Autumn-theme and links
to the idea of things ending and having to let go, but it looks
gorgeous whenever the monster is standing in the foreground.
One
thing that may be worth mentioning about A Monster Calls,
and this isn't so much a criticism as it is a slight worry, is that
I'm not too sure on who exactly it's target audience is. It can't
quite be defined as a family film, yet it's a bit too dark to be just
a children's film. A Monster Calls is mature and fits
the description of dark fantasy, but even though it has scenes with a
sense of humour, I worry that it may just be too mature and deep for
the youngest audiences. Not to sound like some kind of film snob
(because I'm really not), but I often have to have my brain
working on full whilst watching, and I doubt too many young kids will
fall in love with it, it won't be to every young adult's tastes, and
the same applies for older audiences. It will undoubtedly appeal to
anyone who's been in a similar situation to Conor, and should appeal
to film fans, but I'm not too sure of the broad appeal beyond that.
Again, not a criticism – just a worry.
Beyond
my minor worries, A Monster Calls is, in my opinion at
least, a near-flawless film. Showing great understanding, incredible
performances and gorgeous production values, it's such a mature and
meaningful film that can really help teach and guide us. It can speak
to anyone who may be going through or has already gone through a
similar situation with a loved one, and is just filled with such
heart and richness that it's impossible not to feel emotional. In the
UK, A Monster Calls was released on New Year's Day and
was the first film of 2017 that I saw. Now that's what I call a
perfect start, and I have a feeling that by the end of the year, few
will be able to top this spectacular film.
A Monster Calls
10/10