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[Oersted]

Here is a trailer

https://youtu.be/WMgm20Di9Wg

Synopsis

Conor O'Malley (Lewis MacDougall) is a young boy who tries to deal with the terminal illness of his mother (Felicity Jones) and the attacks by local school bully Harry (James Melville). One night, Conor encounters a "monster" (Liam Neeson) in the form of a giant humanoid yew tree who has come to tell him stories and soon begins to help Conor fix his unhappy life.

Reviews

Despite its shortcomings, there are things about this film that are hard to shake; the movie’s ultimate wisdom and overarching compassion make it very likely that you won’t want to shake them, after all.

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-monster-calls-2016

Evocative, mysterious and shot through with bruising humor and heartbreak, A Monster Calls gets you where you live and where there's no place to hide. There's magic in it.

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/peter-travers-a-monster-calls-movie-review-w457157

But for those who can handle heavy emotions in a children’s movie and can overlook some of the narrative clunkiness, A Monster Calls has too many well-observed moments and unusual grace notes to write off as merely “for kids.” Bayona remains a magnificent visual stylist, on track to be in the same league as Steven Spielberg and Guillermo Del Toro some day.

http://www.avclub.com/review/fairy-tales-and-family-tragedy-converge-kid-friend-247323

J.A. Bayona’s “A Monster Calls” is a kids’ movie on the surface with very adult concerns not far below — one part “The BFG,” two parts “Pan’s Labyrinth.” The story of a young boy shaken out of his troubled life through encounters with an enormous and fantastical creature, it tries hard to simultaneously be exciting, emotional and magical. And while it doesn’t always manage to nail that tricky trifecta, it provides a number of touching moments and a behemoth to remember.

http://www.thewrap.com/monster-calls-review-ja-bayona-touch-magic/

“A Monster Calls,” Bayona’s impressive adaptation of Patrick Ness’ novel, finds a 12-year-old British child coping with his mother’s imminent death by envisioning a fantastical creature that guides him through his grief. It’s a touching scenario, and one so well-acted and laced with superb special effects that even its more obvious beats cut deep.

http://www.indiewire.com/2016/09/a-monster-calls-review-liam-neeson-j-a-bayona-tiff-2016-1201725103/

Lock if old

 

[demosthenes]

Hope these stay positive!

 

[SpaceWolf]

Sounds/looks a little Swamp Thing.

 

[GiantEnemyGoomba]

I've seen the trailer while at the movies in the last few months and was pretty impressed by it each time. It's obviously "for kids," but the writing and visual style/camera work seem very well done. Glad to see a well executed family movie coming out with what's sure to be a nice message.

 

[Lifejumper]

Great reviews. It looks good too.

 

[Lucius86]

The book had me sobbing like a five year old. Very happy to see initial positive reviews.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Good to see there are some positive first impressions. You can't trust those for comic book movies or anything with a big enthusiast fanbase, but something like this is safe. This movie keeps reminding me that I need to check out the new Pete's Dragon movie too.

2016 was the year of Felicity Jones and Riz Ahmed. Every other thing I watch has one of them in it. And then they're both in Rogue One.

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

Wait, this movie released 1 month ago in Spain (well it a spanish movie just with foreign actors), so the first impressions thing are not really true.

I havent seen the movie but most people that saw it here seem to liked it.

 

[Oersted]

Good to see there are some positive first impressions. You can't trust those for comic book movies or anything with a big enthusiast fanbase, but something like this is safe. This movie keeps reminding me that I need to check out the new Pete's Dragon movie too.

2016 was the year of Felicity Jones and Riz Ahmed. Every other thing I watch has one of them in it. And then they're both in Rogue One.

Neeson is also in the new Scorsese film Silence, which gets released today in US cinemas.

So you can do some Neeson/Jones binge watching this christmas.

 

[Leeness]

Movie finally came out here.

Beautiful movie, made me bawl, just like the book, damn you movie. 😭

 

[idwl]

Anyone else seen this? Thinking of going tonight

 

[gamz]

Probably taking the kids this weekend to see it.

 

[tekumseh]

Ugh, I saw this yesterday. It's extraordinary; visually stunning, incredibly intimate, and unwaveringly gut wrenching. I give it 10 hankies out of 5...

 

[Harry Stewart]

It's excellent. A must see if it's still playing in your area.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

oh no i'm going to be a sobbing wreck when I see this film.

 

[Moonkid]

Don't think it's releasing here in NZ Hopefully will get a chance to catch it when it hits the usual online venues.

 

[F-Pina]

How do these things go under the radar?
Just watched the trailer, looks really cool.

 

[Skelter]

I want Liam Neeson to narrate my life.

 

[Social]

Saw it a few days ago. Loved the short stories in it, cool visual style. The movie itself was rather dull, quite boring.

 

[Corpsepyre]

Just watched the film. Crushingly depressing throughout. I was moved.