Attempting to deal with his mother’s (Felicity Jones - Star Wars: Rogue One) growing illness and the horrid bullying from his classmates, 12-year-old Conor (Lewis MacDougall - Pan) is awoken one night by a hulking monster who tells the boy he will tell him three stories. The catch is that Conor, when the third tale is over, must tell the monster a fourth story of his own.
A Monster Calls is one of those rare films that come along and hits you where it hurts. Wow this film is emotional. Using The Monster as his imaginary coping device, we are taken on a journey of impending loss. This is a story about letting go, of sharing your true feelings with the ones you love before it is too late. On a personal level this film really tugged at the heart strings. I was where Conor was in this film, Angry and frightened. Feeling guilt because inside you feel like you just want it all to go away. Lewis MacDougall is an outstanding young British talent, the emotions that young man showed us on screen were heart wrenching. The bullying scenes are hard to watch aswell. In a way it was like he wanted to be punished for the feelings he was bottling up inside. He was invisible but not. He wanted his live to stay unchanged but he knew deep inside that it was all going to come to an end. Off the back of Rogue One, Felicity Jones played her role perfectly here. The connection between the two lead to many heart warming moments, and who could ever make a better voice for the monster than Mr Taken himself Liam Neeson.
A Monster Calls is a brilliant movie, heart warming and heart wrenching all at the same time. Great performances coupled with breath taking visuals this is a must see for everyone.
*One warning I must give, in my screening today there were a lot of younger viewers. I personally think this may be a little to heavy for the ages that they were so even though this may be a 12A just think about the subject matter and decide for yourselves.*