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…

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…

Death takes a toll, not just on the dying person, but also on those around them. And that cost can be steep. Children may be especially hard hit.

“A Monster Calls” tells the tale of Conor O’Malley (Lewis MacDougall), a 12 year old boy in England, whose mother (Felicity Jones) suffers from a terminal cancer. As her health worsens, Conor struggles to cope. His father (Toby Kebbel) has divorced his mother and now lives in the US, and Conor must support his mom with only the help of his strict grandmother (Sigourney Weaver). He struggles in school and finds himself the object of bullying. One night at 12:07 a.m., a giant yew tree (voice of Liam Neeson) uproots itself from…