A MONSTER CALLS. It Offers More Than Enough

In recent years, fairy-tale storytelling on the big screen has largely been limited to film adaptations of Tolkien, Rowling, and Lewis. Multi-part sagas have their charm, but some viewers — the undersigned included — may have already grown tired of the epic scope of these productions, in which the moral, so essential to any fairy tale, tended to get a bit lost. A Monster Calls, the cinematic story from Juan Antonio Bayona, should be an antidote for exactly those people.

Seven minutes past the witching hour — the teenage Conor O’Malley (Lewis MacDougall) is plagued by a recurring nightmare in which his mother dies tragically. It is also at this time that the titular monster begins to appear in the boy’s life, becoming Conor’s guide and friend. Living with his terminally ill mother (Felicity Jones), the boy, with the help of his imagined companion, will have to confront his own fear and the truth about himself.

A Monster Calls is not an ordinary family film — the issues it tackles are so serious and challenging that young viewers may have trouble processing them. Bayona’s film touches on ultimate matters, telling a story about how to prepare for something one cannot truly prepare for — the loss of a loved one.

It’s easy to imagine the wave of emotion that washes over the audience during the scenes in which Conor faces updates on his mother’s health. Frustrated, seething with anger and rebellion against the inevitable, the boy lashes out with growing aggression — whether it’s at the school bullies or his overprotective grandmother. The Monster, who tries to help the protagonist manage his overwhelming emotions, also unleashes in him the strength to face the demons that have long haunted him, no matter the consequences.

In some respects, A Monster Calls resembles Steven Spielberg’s The B.F.G. — there, too, a young protagonist, in that case a girl, befriends a seemingly monstrous creature who, like Bayona’s Monster, arrives under cover of night. In Spielberg’s film, however, the creature is not imagined but an inhabitant of the story’s world, helping his little friend as much as she helps him.

In A Monster Calls, the Monster — who, thanks to several directorial choices, becomes an obvious incarnation of someone from the O’Malley family’s life — serves primarily as a device that forces the protagonist to confront traumatic events. And although his role in shaping the rebellious boy’s character and his relationships is invaluable, the Monster seems more like a fragment of Conor’s own psyche than a fully realized character.

Visually, A Monster Calls is stunning — the titular Monster, emerging from the natural world surrounding the O’Malley home, is a true technical marvel, and giving him the powerful (and suitably enhanced) voice of Liam Neeson was a perfect choice. All the interactions between the creature and the small English town are suitably spectacular, and its origins inspire as much awe as fear. Certain narrative shallows — of which Bayona’s film has a few — are more than compensated for by its emotional weight, capable of moving even the toughest viewers.

And although A Monster Calls is unlikely to become a classic of cinematic fairy tales, it offers more than enough cinematic value to merit both a viewing and appreciation.