A Monster Calls product reviews

How does this story begin? A boy - too old to be a kid. Too young to be a man and a nightmare - such an extremely powerful opening, and the movie just blow up from there. Conor has to deal with his mums terminal illness and escapes from reality to be helped along by a very old Tree. An extremely emotional movie that had both my husband and myself in tears - I was wet half way thru and even my children cried a little. The acting and casting can not be faulted as what can only be explained by the word 'epic'. A movie that had his gripped from the beginning and never released its hold. I can guarantee that this is not the last time we see Lewis MacDougall as his acting was so convincing.

This movie has the feeling of a blockbuster and I am still puzzled as to why I have never heard about it until now. The content is extremely important and as cancer will/has probably impacted most families it is important to discuss details with children instead of telling them everything will be fine. Not only that the fact that Conor was getting beaten up on a regular basis just to feel like he actually existed and still mattered, was heartbreaking. Then there is the art work and the amazing imagery - it was just so well done.

The casting of Liam Neeson's voice was sheer brilliance as he can convey so much with just the share volume of it. I found the four of us were totally mesmarised from the movie from start to finish, the only time the spell was broken was when our six year old asked a question to do with the movie mainly about when was the mother going to come home. It is fair to say my eight and six year old did not understand a majority of the movie but they still appreciated it. Having lost my dad recently to cancer it really impacted on me and the thought of my husband or myself dying and how the girls would react was a little more overpowering that I had anticipated.

The three stories that are told left you thinking especially the first one with the queen remarrying the king who later died and how fast the public are to throw stones and expect the worst from people. It actually made you question a lot and left you realising that life can be totally unfair and really you just have to play the cards that you are dealt. The release of anger that Conor expressing half way thru had me shutter and it really is an emotional roller coaster.

After watching this I do feel my two are both a little young for the under laying messages and I think it would be better suited for teenagers and above. As much as I loved this movie I am not sure it is the sort of thing I could view on a regular basis. It did bring a lot of emotional baggage up for my husband and I think it more a private movie to be watched, in the dark, on separate couches, but still a movie to be watched either way.