A Monster Calls

PG
2016
|
108 mins
Trailer
Poster for A Monster Calls

The director of The Impossible and The Orphanage adapts the award-winning children’s fantasy novel about a bullied boy with an... More

Where to watch A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls is available to stream in Australia now... More on Prime Video and Apple TV Store.

A Monster Calls | Ratings & Reviews

"I remember being a kid and wanting a giant creature to help me out during difficult times. I suspect it’s a common fantasy, with films like Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbour Totoro and Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are tapping into the active imaginations of children. But what if you’re moving from childhood to adolescence? And what if your struggles aren’t as simple as good triumphing over evil? A Monster Calls explores the darkest of grey areas experienced at a tender age, creating a cinematic masterwork in visualised empathy."

Flicks, Liam MagurenFlicks

"A splendidly rendered, yet oddly ill-conceived terminal-illness melodrama that feels much too dark and serious for audiences Conor's age, and an even more curious fit for grown-ups."

VarietyVariety

"There's a truly monstrous film lurking in here somewhere, but Bayona seems hell-bent on keeping it at bay."

Time OutTime Out

"The movie delivers its meaning repeatedly to make sure that no one misses the point; its lessons, rendered even more explicitly than the ones in Conor's classroom, are missing only the chalkboard and pointer."

The New YorkerThe New Yorker

"If you prefer to view dying as a natural part of life, a step in a cycle, this film will feel discordant and perhaps counterproductive. But visually it will certainly stick with you, and your children."

The New York TimesThe New York Times

"Starts to fall apart the moment we ask just how the metaphor is meant to function."

Sydney Morning HeraldSydney Morning Herald

"Evocative, mysterious and shot through with bruising humour and heartbreak, A Monster Calls-with a deeply-felt performance from Felicity Jones- gets you where you live. There's real magic in it."

Rolling StoneRolling Stone

""Monster" is almost too ambitious to be completely realised. But when it works, which is most of the time, its story has a power which lingers in the mind."

Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times

"A sensitive and beautifully made lesson in the limits and power of storytelling."

Hollywood ReporterHollywood Reporter

"The resolution to Conor’s inner turmoil is itself satisfying and as complex as one could hope, especially for a kids’ movie."

FilmInkFilmInk

A Monster Calls | Details

Rating
PG, Mild themes and violence, some scenes may scare children
Runtime
108
Genre
Drama, Fantasy
Country of origin
USA, Spain