There is
little that is as infuriating as feeling that one is being manipulated into
crying by a piece of entertainment.
Now of
course, almost all entertainment seeks to manipulate the emotions, but some instances
are rather more subtle than others.
And where
the unsubtle can annoy, the subtle can have a cathartic effect.
With A Monster Calls, it’s very much a case
of the latter.
Written by Patrick Ness and based on his own novel of
the same name (which itself originated from an idea by Siobhan Dowd, who died from cancer before she could develop it), the
film follows schoolboy Conor O’Malley as he faces the terminal illness of his
mother.
His father is in the US with a new family, his
grandmother is a cold, uptight figure and he’s being bullied at school.
But one night, an ancient Yew from a nearby churchyard
roars into life as a monstrous tree, and challenges Connor to listen to three
stories – told through beautiful animations – asserting that then Connor
himself must tell a fourth but that it must be the truth.
An extraordinary screen representation of complex
emotions, it bucks most current cinematic trends – not least in leaving some
viewers wondering what age group it’s really ‘meant’ for, as though such
stories can be filed away conveniently in boxes divided neatly along the lines
of age.
To work, not only does this require an assured but
delicate touch from director JA Bayona, but a top-notch cast too.
Signourney Weaver is excellent as the grandmother,
while Tony Kebbell as the departed father adds to the sense of adults not knowing
how to reach out to the boy.
If there’s a problem – and this risks being churlish –
it’s that Felicity Jones as the dying mother can seem altogether too saintly in
her suffering, although it’s to the film’s credit that the brutal progress of
the cancer is portrayed utterly unflinchingly.
But boy and monster are at the heart of this.
Lewis MacDougall as Connor turns in a super
performance of remarkable nuance and depth, while Liam Neeson lends a deep,
primal power to the monster of the title.
A tale about truth and emotion, the power of stories
and so much more, it could, all too easily, have lapsed into mawkish
sentimentality, but it steers a clear path throughout to place before us a
profoundly moving experience.
It opens across the UK on 1 January and should be
widely seen. Just don’t forget the hankies.
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