Chicago – The nature of dying, especially in process with a close loved one, is a testing ground for unwieldy and alien emotions. When, why and how we’re challenged does not have a timetable, nor a convenience. All of this is played out as fantasy in the vital “A Monster Calls.”
Rating: 4.5/5.0
The origin of this story, which began life as a novel, even traces its source to a situation with dying. The conceiver of the story, Siobhan Dowd, was a terminal patient and passed away before she could write it. The novel was formulated and completed by Patrick Ness – who also wrote the screenplay for the film version. It is a very unusual type of fantasy, in which a monster is sprung from a tree, and visits a young boy whose mother is dying. It’s full of that grief, symbolism and the nature of our own reaction to the inevitable.
Rating: 4.5/5.0
The origin of this story, which began life as a novel, even traces its source to a situation with dying. The conceiver of the story, Siobhan Dowd, was a terminal patient and passed away before she could write it. The novel was formulated and completed by Patrick Ness – who also wrote the screenplay for the film version. It is a very unusual type of fantasy, in which a monster is sprung from a tree, and visits a young boy whose mother is dying. It’s full of that grief, symbolism and the nature of our own reaction to the inevitable.
- 1/7/2017
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Patrick Ness' A Monster Calls is brought to the screen in superb style from J A Bayona. Here's our review...
Grief is something that we all have to deal with at some point in our lives. Like a number of recent films that use fantasy conventions to process themes of mortality and emotional upheaval, A Monster Calls makes its thunderous impact feel real. The earth shakes, heavy breathing is heard, pencils roll off on their own and the rage and sadness of a little boy is made monstrous.
J.A. Bayona's third feature is adapted from the acclaimed novel by Patrick Ness, Jim Kay and the late Siobhan Dowd, and tells the story of Conor O'Malley (Lewis MacDougall), a 12-year-old boy coming to terms with his mother's long-term illness. Lizzie (Felicity Jones) has always understood him and been there for him, while his absent father (Toby Kebbell) and distant grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) have not.
Grief is something that we all have to deal with at some point in our lives. Like a number of recent films that use fantasy conventions to process themes of mortality and emotional upheaval, A Monster Calls makes its thunderous impact feel real. The earth shakes, heavy breathing is heard, pencils roll off on their own and the rage and sadness of a little boy is made monstrous.
J.A. Bayona's third feature is adapted from the acclaimed novel by Patrick Ness, Jim Kay and the late Siobhan Dowd, and tells the story of Conor O'Malley (Lewis MacDougall), a 12-year-old boy coming to terms with his mother's long-term illness. Lizzie (Felicity Jones) has always understood him and been there for him, while his absent father (Toby Kebbell) and distant grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) have not.
- 1/4/2017
- Den of Geek
When you mix genres and filmmaking styles, you always run the risk of things not gelling together properly. This week, director J.A. Bayona avoided that with his top notch new movie A Monster Calls. Out previously for its Oscar qualifying run on Christmas weekend before a general release in a few days, the film seeks to be an unusual Academy Award player. It has an uphill battle, but there’s always the possibility of a surprise. This is the sort of thing that probably will be almost shut out, precursor wise, but you need to keep in the back of your head for nomination morning. The more voters who see and are affected by it, the better a chance it has to shock on the big day. The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Patrick Ness (based on an idea by Siobhan Dowd). It...
- 1/3/2017
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Neeson voices a monster who helps a bullied boy cope with his mother’s terminal illness in a dramatic, affecting tale
Ja Bayona, director of The Orphanage, shows how a child’s fantasy can make sense of the world and our feelings about it: we create our own monsters to exorcise anger and grief. This sweet, sad movie reminded me at various stages of Let the Right One In, Pan’s Labyrinth and Ted Hughes’s The Iron Man; there’s also a briefly visible model of Frankenstein’s monster, maybe alluding to Victor Erice’s The Spirit of the Beehive. It is based on an idea by children’s author Siobhan Dowd, who poignantly conceived of the story as she was dying of cancer; Patrick Ness wrote the book and the screenplay adaptation.
Newcomer Lewis MacDougall plays Conor, a lonely kid whose mum (Felicity Jones) is dying; he is...
Ja Bayona, director of The Orphanage, shows how a child’s fantasy can make sense of the world and our feelings about it: we create our own monsters to exorcise anger and grief. This sweet, sad movie reminded me at various stages of Let the Right One In, Pan’s Labyrinth and Ted Hughes’s The Iron Man; there’s also a briefly visible model of Frankenstein’s monster, maybe alluding to Victor Erice’s The Spirit of the Beehive. It is based on an idea by children’s author Siobhan Dowd, who poignantly conceived of the story as she was dying of cancer; Patrick Ness wrote the book and the screenplay adaptation.
Newcomer Lewis MacDougall plays Conor, a lonely kid whose mum (Felicity Jones) is dying; he is...
- 12/29/2016
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Stories are the wildest things of all. — The Monster
Close your eyes and let your imagination do the work. Listen to Liam Neeson as he reads the first chapter of Patrick Ness’ A Monster Calls:
Directed by J.A. Bayona (The Impossible, The Orphanage), A Monster Calls is a visually spectacular and stunningly emotional drama based on the award-winning novel. The screenplay adaptation is by the book’s author, Patrick Ness. Mr. Ness wrote the novel from an original idea by the late Siobhan Dowd.
12-year-old Conor O’Malley (Lewis MacDougall) is about to escape into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales. He is dealing with his mother’s (Felicity Jones) illness, which has
necessitated Conor’s spending time with his less-than-sympathetic grandmother (Sigourney Weaver). His daily existence at his U.K. school is one of academic disinterest and bullying by classmates. As Conor’s father (Toby Kebbell...
Close your eyes and let your imagination do the work. Listen to Liam Neeson as he reads the first chapter of Patrick Ness’ A Monster Calls:
Directed by J.A. Bayona (The Impossible, The Orphanage), A Monster Calls is a visually spectacular and stunningly emotional drama based on the award-winning novel. The screenplay adaptation is by the book’s author, Patrick Ness. Mr. Ness wrote the novel from an original idea by the late Siobhan Dowd.
12-year-old Conor O’Malley (Lewis MacDougall) is about to escape into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales. He is dealing with his mother’s (Felicity Jones) illness, which has
necessitated Conor’s spending time with his less-than-sympathetic grandmother (Sigourney Weaver). His daily existence at his U.K. school is one of academic disinterest and bullying by classmates. As Conor’s father (Toby Kebbell...
- 12/27/2016
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
In 2011, Patrick Ness’ children’s novel “A Monster Calls” was published by Walker Books. Based on an original idea by Siobhan Dowd, the novel follows a boy named Conor O’Malley who struggles to cope with his mother’s terminal cancer and is repeatedly visited in the middle of the night by a monster who tells him stories. The book was critically acclaimed upon release and won numerous awards including the Carnegie Medal and the British Children’s Book of the Year.
Read More: ‘A Monster Calls’: Why Its Late Release Date Could Stifle Commercial and Oscar Momentum
Now, a film adaptation will soon hit theaters nationwide, with a screenplay written by Ness himself and directed by J. A. Bayona (“The Impossible”). It stars newcomer Lewis MacDougall (“Pan”) as Conor, Sigourney Weaver (“Alien”) as Conor’s grandmother, Felicity Jones (“Rogue One”) as Conor’s mother, Toby Kebbell (“War Horse...
Read More: ‘A Monster Calls’: Why Its Late Release Date Could Stifle Commercial and Oscar Momentum
Now, a film adaptation will soon hit theaters nationwide, with a screenplay written by Ness himself and directed by J. A. Bayona (“The Impossible”). It stars newcomer Lewis MacDougall (“Pan”) as Conor, Sigourney Weaver (“Alien”) as Conor’s grandmother, Felicity Jones (“Rogue One”) as Conor’s mother, Toby Kebbell (“War Horse...
- 12/26/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
Patrick Ness shared the same editor as Siobhan Dowd, and he was already familiar with her work. He didn’t expect he’d be finishing a book that Dowd started...
- 12/23/2016
- by Jazz Tangcay
- AwardsDaily.com
If he ever decides to put his acting career on hold, Liam Neeson has a bright future in narration.
In his latest film, the Irish-born Oscar nominee lends his rich brogue to the big-screen adaptation of A Monster Calls, the acclaimed graphic novel by Patrick Ness (from a story originated by Siobhan Dowd).
But ahead of the film’s limited release this Friday (and its world premiere on Jan. 6), Neeson is treating fans to a dramatic reading of the graphic novel’s first chapter. The clip, debuted above exclusively on People, features video of Neeson reading the chapter, interspersed with clips of the upcoming film.
In his latest film, the Irish-born Oscar nominee lends his rich brogue to the big-screen adaptation of A Monster Calls, the acclaimed graphic novel by Patrick Ness (from a story originated by Siobhan Dowd).
But ahead of the film’s limited release this Friday (and its world premiere on Jan. 6), Neeson is treating fans to a dramatic reading of the graphic novel’s first chapter. The clip, debuted above exclusively on People, features video of Neeson reading the chapter, interspersed with clips of the upcoming film.
- 12/21/2016
- by m34miller
- PEOPLE.com
“A Monster Calls,” based on a story that was originated by Siobhan Dowd but finished by Patrick Ness after Dowd’s death, tells the story of young Conor O’Malley (Lewis MacDougall), who is bullied at school and then must go home to care for his cancer-riddled mother (Felicity Jones). While it sounds like a tear-jerker, director J.A. Bayona was determined to give the film something of a happy ending. “The first time I sat down with Patrick I told him that I wanted to find light at the end of the story because the book ends up with the scene in the.
- 12/14/2016
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
In 2011, Patrick Ness published the children’s novel “A Monster Calls,” based on an original idea by Siobhan Dowd, about a boy in England who struggles to cope with the consequences of his mother’s terminal cancer. He’s then repeatedly visited by a monster in the middle of the night who tells him stories to teach him to cope. The book was adapted into a film by director J.A. Bayona (“The Impossible”) and Ness himself, and stars Lewis MacDougall (“Pan”), Sigourney Weaver (“Alien”), Felicity Jones (“The Theory of Everything”) and Liam Neeson (“Schindler’s List”).
Read More: ‘A Monster Calls’ Review: J.A. Bayona’s Fantasy With Liam Neeson Is Equal Parts ‘Big Fish’ and ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’
Now, there’s a new book out now entitled “A Monster Calls: The Art and Vision Behind The Film” which dives deep into the creation of the film through interviews with...
Read More: ‘A Monster Calls’ Review: J.A. Bayona’s Fantasy With Liam Neeson Is Equal Parts ‘Big Fish’ and ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’
Now, there’s a new book out now entitled “A Monster Calls: The Art and Vision Behind The Film” which dives deep into the creation of the film through interviews with...
- 12/7/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
A new featurette for Juan Antonio Bayona's (The Impossible) A Monster Calls has arrived, featuring the film's screenwriter and author of the novel, Patrick Ness, providing audiences with insight on how he continued Siobhan Dowd's (the original author of A Monster Calls) story after her untimely passing.
Synopsis: "A visually spectacular drama from acclaimed director Juan Antonio Bayona (“The Impossible”), based on the award-winning children’s fantasy novel. 12-year-old Conor (Lewis MacDougall) attempts to deal with his mother’s (Felicity Jones) illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that explore courage, loss, and faith."
Directed by J.A. Bayona from a screenplay by Patrick Ness (based on his novel of the same name), A Monster Calls stars Lewis MacDougall, Felicity Jones, Toby Kebbell, Liam Neeson, and Sigourney Weaver. The film hits theaters on December 23rd from Focus Features.
Synopsis: "A visually spectacular drama from acclaimed director Juan Antonio Bayona (“The Impossible”), based on the award-winning children’s fantasy novel. 12-year-old Conor (Lewis MacDougall) attempts to deal with his mother’s (Felicity Jones) illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that explore courage, loss, and faith."
Directed by J.A. Bayona from a screenplay by Patrick Ness (based on his novel of the same name), A Monster Calls stars Lewis MacDougall, Felicity Jones, Toby Kebbell, Liam Neeson, and Sigourney Weaver. The film hits theaters on December 23rd from Focus Features.
- 12/5/2016
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
A Monster Calls tells the story of a young boy struggling to cope with his mother’s terminal illness, who finds solace with the help of a terrifying monster that takes the form of a tree and tells tales that give meaning to his feelings of grief, anger and loss.
It’s a message that feels equally powerful to director J.A. Bayona (The Impossible) and the film’s cast, which includes Pan actor Lewis MacDougall as the boy, Felicity Jones as his mother, and Liam Neeson as the titular monster.
“A Monster Calls deals with how to grow as a...
It’s a message that feels equally powerful to director J.A. Bayona (The Impossible) and the film’s cast, which includes Pan actor Lewis MacDougall as the boy, Felicity Jones as his mother, and Liam Neeson as the titular monster.
“A Monster Calls deals with how to grow as a...
- 11/15/2016
- by jodiguglielmi
- PEOPLE.com
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