A fantasy about the all-too real ways humans deal with loss, Juan Antonio Bayona's "A Monster Calls" offers a cinematic heart that beats with anger, sadness, and inspiring vigor. Based on Patrick Ness's novel, the film the tells the story of a young boy whose struggle with life and loss reflect the universal education that is human existence.

Revolving around young Conor O'Malley, "A Monster Calls" finds the boy dealing with school bullies, a cantankerous grandmother, and, most importantly, a dying mother. Conor spends his days caring, as best he can, for his mother, drawing, and recoiling from both literal and figurative nightmares. When a monstrous, lumbering tree with fiery eyes appears at his window, Conor begins a journey that…

Decidedly not for young children and yet not really a film for adults, the opening narration describes itself as well its target audience. "Too old to be a kid, but too young to be a man." It's a visually intelligent film that tells a deeply emotional story of an artistic boy whose mother is dying of cancer, and him learning to face his fear of loss rather than run from it. While predictable, that seems in large part to be the point - this fate is inevitable, and the film presents a message of total honesty and acceptance of hard truths. Liam Neeson is the standout here as he does an incredible job at voicing the monster; making him threatening…

My 9 year old daughter's enthusiasm for seeing A Monster Calls after being rather excited by the trailers for it we had seen wasn't quite treated to the tale about a friendly talking tree that saves a boy from being bullied that she hoped it would be.

"That wasn't quite what I expected," she commented as we exited the cinema. "But it was really, really good!"

The fact that she spent practically the whole film perched on the edge of her seat was clue enough to me that she really enjoyed it, and understandably so. It's not quite like any film she had watched before or that we had watched together (we watch one together every Saturday, at the cinema…

All those years ago I remember sitting in the theater watching The Lord of the Rings, looking around and thinking, "Man, I really don't love these as much as everyone else in here." I recognized them as a spectacular achievement but was rather bored through them, just not for me. My least favorite parts of those films were the talking tree scenes. Every time one of those tedious bastards showed up that was my cue to shuffle my way out of the auditorium for a piss.

Sooooooo, A Monster Calls felt a little bit like an Ent trying his goddamned hardest to make me cry for just under two hours. As I was at a bit of a disadvantage due…

Wow I had very high expectations for this movie after reading Patrick Ness's novel and I was really impressed by how the movie turned out.

I’ve been a fan of J.A. Bayona since I saw The Orphanage, which is a great horror film. In A Monster Calls, Bayona’s creative vision complements the imaginations of Patrick Ness, who also wrote the screenplay for the movie, very well. This is a very compelling drama with fantastical elements that work on a metaphorical level. As a film about terminal illness, bullying, and anger, A Monster Calls never came off to me as emotionally manipulative or overwrought. Some parts of the movie are told through stunning water-colored animation, which genuinely makes for some stunning…

Even if you can see exactly where this heavyweight dose of ever-so British fantasy-melodrama is going from its opening few minutes, it doesn't take anything away from the film, its messages or its emotions.

Thirteen year old Conor is dealing with a lot - he's constantly bullied in his small English village, his father left him years ago only coming back into his life when it suits him, and his mother is ill. Very ill. And he's also suffering from crippling nightmares, one of which suddenly sees a huge monster come to him in the middle of the night and start to tell him stories.....stories which may or may not be horribly relevant to what he's about to have to…