Review: A Monster Calls

The monster couldn't help wondering if he should have chosen to visit a boy who lived in a house with higher ceilings. Photos: GSC Movies

In the Chronicles Of Narnia films, Liam Neeson played a magical talking lion that dispensed wise words to children. In his latest film, A Monster Calls, he plays a magical talking tree that dispenses wise words to a single child.

Is this a promotion or demotion for the actor? It’s really not certain. What you can be sure of, however, is that Neeson’s gravelly baritone voice is one of the best parts of A Monster Calls. This new film by Spanish filmmaker J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage, The Impossible) may look like a whimsical children’s fantasy at first glance, but do not be fooled: it’s actually a moving, occasionally heartbreaking meditation on death, truth and human nature.