Continuing our series of reaction videos at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival comes our thoughts on A Monster Calls, an ambitious epic adapted from the popular children’s book of the same name.
J.A. Bayona directs and Liam Neeson voices a tree in the his fantasy tear-jerker which may just have taken the lead in this year’s awards race.
12-year-old Conor (Lewis MacDougall), dealing with his mother’s (Felicity Jones) illness, a less-than-sympathetic grandmother (Sigourney Weaver), and bullying classmates, finds a most unlikely ally when a Monster appears at his bedroom window. Ancient, wild, and relentless, the Monster guides Conor on a journey of courage, faith, and truth. Toby Kebbell plays Conor’s father, and Liam Neeson stars in performance-capture and voiceover as the nocturnally visiting Monster of the title.
You can read our five-star review of the film here (it really is one of the best of the festival so far), and check out Paul Heath and HeyUGuys‘ Stefan Pape’s thoughts in the video below.
A Monster Calls will open in cinemas in January 2017.
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