A Monster Calls For A "Visionary Filmmaker"
Friday, April 15, 2016 at 11:30AM 
Laurence here. Have you checked the children? Landing somewhat quietly in a week of splashy comic book trailers was something that looks, frankly, altogether more interesting than both. J.A. Bayona, director of The Orphanage and The Impossible, seems to have found the narrative intersection between both for his new film, A Monster Calls. We only have a teaser trailer so far so we won't give it the full YNMS treatment just yet, but it's an enticing, Burtonesque first glimpse.
Some more information on the film after the jump...
Based on the book of the same name by Patrick Ness, there's a bit of a backstory to this one. The original idea for the illustrated novel came from Siobhan Dowd, an English writer who died of cancer in 2007, three years after being diagnosed. Dowd worked with Ness' editor, who asked Ness to complete Dowd's story, which already had characters, a beginning and an outline. The book was illustrated by Jim Kay and his work looks phenomenal, which makes me wonder if the film's CGI look is going to be anywhere near as singular and haunting.
The story follows Conor (Lewis McDougall), a young boy struggling to cope with his mother's (Felicity Jones) terminal cancer and taunting from his classmates. He escaped by retreating into a fantasy world, and at night is visited by a monster (Liam Neeson), embodied in an ancient tree, who tells him stories. It also stars Sigourney Weaver as Conor's grandmother, Toby Kebbell as his father, and Geraldine Chaplin in an unspecified role.
It sounds and looks a lot like Where the Wild Things Are meets The BFG with a dash of Pan's Labyrinth. Bayona is undoubtedly a stylish director, and the teaser trailer definitely reflects that, combining the macabre horror visuals of his Spanish-language breakthrough and the large-scale destruction of his English-language breakthrough. Bayona has been quiet since he scored Naomi Watts her most recent Oscar nomination, but he gets a lot of points from us for directing the first two episodes of Penny Dreadful and helping to establish the series' rich look. A Monster Calls is due out on October 14 and a full trailer will hopefully be forthcoming.
Reader Comments (9)
I miss Sigourney Weaver SO MUCH.
Get her and Glenn Close an Oscar, people!
And review please guys for Close's most recent Sunset Blvd. on West End.
loved the Orphange and Impossible is very good but this trailer looks unconvincing.Hope film is better.
Part of me wishes this was animated but I'm still so excited about Weaver and Neeson. Hopefully this'll do the book justice.
Isn't it strange that Weaver and Jones got "Oscar-nominated" but Neeson didn't? I always find that bizarre when they aren't consistent, but that might just be the awards nut in me.
I cried in this trailer.
This is my favorite book of all times. It was the most intense experience with a narrative that i've ever had.
The book falls into my favorite subgenre: mother/son relationship
-Bambi
-Beats of the southern wild
-room
Geraldine Chaplin quietly continues a career in movies. Only saw her in Remember My Name but that is more than enough to advocate on her behalf whenever.
Sigourney Weaver you need serious hardware on your mantel. Fuck your college roommate. She's overrated, hammy, and entitled.
Why is this classified as a "teaser trailer"? It feels like the best type of trailer for me - conveying the mood of the movie, without giving you the whole plot. I say bring on the YNMS treatment!
Interesting trailer
Read the book recently and it is very special. Can't wait to see this and the director and cast have me quietly optimistic.