AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Wordiezett So much average

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Pjtaylor-96-138044 'A Monster Calls (2017)' is the kind of 'fantasy as allegory' that's so often made all the less ambiguous, one way or the other, precisely because of its format. Film isn't quite able to achieve the kind of unspoken uncertainty that novels often inherently carry, considering the all-encompassing perspective of written fist-person narratives, but not every story is meant to work both literally and figuratively - though many often do and I can't speak to the intentions of the source-material (which I haven't read). My point is that some material perhaps has more impact if it makes itself as definitive as possible. Such is the case with this feature, which never really has any pretences about its more outlandish elements and always frames them as the coping mechanisms of a child - though the occasionally more tangible moment does break this illusion somewhat. While the stranger elements perhaps don't work as well as they would have in a piece totally told from the perspective of our unreliable narrator of a protagonist, the film comes together to tell a tale as old as time in a distinct way that actually allows it to be widely accessible and incredibly emotionally resonant, to boot. 7/10

calorne A not uninteresting story about a boy engaging in a difficult reality of parental ill health and problems at school, who is drawn into a fantastical segway with a tree monster who tells him three tales with a rider that the boy must respond with one of his own. (I felt short-changed by the third tale).The film did not flow seamlessly enough for my taste. I found it stilted and perhaps that is why I felt unconvinced by it at times.I did like the review from another contributor who mentioned that the film made her dog cry. (Perhaps her canine felt that sticks could be put to better use?).

thekarmicnomad A young boy is having visions of a tree like monster that visits him at night. The visitations coincide with him being bullied at school and his strained relationship with his mother and grandmother.The characters, effects, production and story are all great! You really get sucked into the life of the main character and there are quite a few anxious scenes where he is trying to come to terms his life.The monster dispenses some short stories in cartoon format which helps break up the relatively bleak and slow real action.I didn't find there to be many surprises but although I could see what was coming up ahead when the movie got there I was still gripped.This is an excellent movie, however, I don't think it is a spoiler to say that this film is not a barrel of laughs and it is quite slow.Watch this on a big TV with the sound turned up to get the most of the monster scenes.

Leofwine_draca A MONSTER CALLS is another film centred around the folklore figure of the 'tree man' already thoroughly explored in everything from GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY to LORD OF THE RINGS and THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA. This time around he's a friendly creature who visits a mixed-up young boy to tell him stories in the dead of night. It turns out the kid's mother is dying of cancer, so the tree man is there to help him cope and grieve. Yeah, it's a rather cynical film that goes for the obvious approach throughout, but merely comes across as depressing. The actors fail to really get into their roles and a miscast Sigourney Weaver and her off-putting British accent don't help, although Toby Kebbell comes across well as always. The tree man scenes go overboard on the CGI and Liam Neeson merely reprises his Aslan role with a voice full of gravity. I found the whole thing hugely predictable, copying the likes of THE BFG somewhat shamelessly, and imparting a message that would take 10 minutes tops to film.