A Monster Calls movie review & film summary (2016)

This situation would seem challenging under the best of circumstances. Of course, the movie understands that the situation wouldn’t arise at all under the best of circumstances. Conor’s mother, a young woman herself, played by Felicity Jones, is direly ill, and has been for some time. She’s a one-time artist who put aside her dreams once Conor was born. The boy’s father, Toby Kebbell, has a whole other life in Los Angeles now. Conor’s grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) is a stern intimidating figure who on the outset seems entirely disagreeable. We don’t know it at first, but we suspect it: all the adults in Conor’s family, however well-intentioned, are lying to him. His visits from his tree frenemy help him to reckon with that, albeit in an unconventional way.

When the monster calls, his tendrils wrap around the furniture in Conor’s bedroom, and these tendrils themselves seem to grip the boy as the monster tells fables of kings and queens that end in frustrating paradox, confusing Conor. The boy and his beloved mom have moments of respite, enjoying a 16mm print of the 1933 “King Kong” together, with Mom telling Conor it was a favorite of his late grandfather, who was the only person who could get Grandma to lighten up. These casually dropped bits of history become crucial as the film digs deeper and deeper into the realities of Conor’s situation and the parables of the fantastic figure who helps him deal with that situation, despite Conor’s furious opposition.

This is a very unusual picture, whether you’re viewing as an adult or a teen, but it’s not unprecedented. It has some genuine affinities with the underrated 1986 “Labyrinth,” in which Jennifer Connelly confronted a looming transition from girlhood to womanhood via a fantasy realm ruled by an elfin David Bowie. In that film, as in this one, a close examination of the characters’ family photos yields useful clues as to what’s “really” going on. But “A Monster Calls” is putting its young protagonist through a much tougher transition process, and as such the visions, and the challenges, are more wrenching and terrifying.

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