Film of the Week: A Monster Calls

Based on the book of the same name, both written by Patrick Ness, the incredible story about a young boy losing his mother has never been told so originally and imaginatively before. A Monster Calls captures every layer of emotion, from sadness, to anger, to acceptance; it’s a powerful rollercoaster.

Along with attempting to keep himself together with his mother’s terminal illness, he must also deal with a bully, his strict grandmother, and his self-alienated father. Conor O’Mailey is just a schoolboy. He’s learning how the world works from school, but growing up fast at home. We get to see inside his mind – having some scenes where the adults are completely out of focus, only being able to see him, disconnects him from the adult world. He’s just a child, and so adults naturally leave him out of certain matters. We don’t need to hear them to know all and what questions he’s asking. We also see that, in some cases, he understands more than the adults believe he does.

At 12:07 in the morning, a tree monster appears before Conor, and promises to tell him three stories, and the fourth and final story must be told by Conor himself. The truth. Lewis MacDougall’s performance throughout was absolutely stunning, clearly outperforming everyone else. He took the entirety of the movie upon his shoulders, which was made even harder considering the weight behind the story, and threw himself into the movie with everything he has. The last few scenes when he reveals the truth to himself, Lewis displayed so many heavy emotions from one scene to another, it was a truly spectacular accomplishment.

If you ever have an opportunity to see this movie, I highly recommend you do. It overlaps fantasy and reality superbly – there’s a strong sense of reality throughout the fantasy segments, and there’s an equally strong sense of fantasy throughout the reality segments, because it’s told through the eyes of a child. Conor may understand so much, but sometimes, the only way to cope with so much going on around you is to lose yourself in your own world.

I truly believe A Monster Calls didn’t get enough promotions. I heard about it and saw the trailers at the cinema, but then it disappeared from my radar until I saw the DVD sitting on the shelf in Morrisons. I’m afraid that it has happened to many more people as well, and I hope that I can get at least one person to watch this film, because you will not regret it.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)