A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls is a 2016 fantasy-drama film based off of the novel written by Patrick Ness and directed by J.A. Bayona. It stars Lewis MacDougall, Sigourney Weaver, Liam Neeson and Felicity Jones.

Plot
A boy named Conor O'Malley (Lewis MacDougall) has frequent nightmares at night while at day is facing frequent problems. His beloved mother, Lizzie (Felicity Jones) is diagnosed of cancer, he might have to live with his strict grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) and he is bullied, beaten, and tortured at school let by his sadistic classmate, Harry, who considers him invisible and a nobody to everyone around him. On one night at 12:07 am, a giant tree-like monster (Liam Neeson) would visit Conor O'Malley to tell three true stories. In return, Conor will tell his nightmare to the monster which is the truth...

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Liam Neeson did a great job playing as the monster, both in motion capture and voice.
 * 2) A heartwarming coming-of-age story where Conor, the protagonist encounters the Monster from the Yew Tree and tells him 3 true stories while dealing of facing his own true fears.
 * 3) A beautiful soundtrack.
 * 4) Two of the true stories were told in wonderful and artful animation that made it feel so atmospheric.
 * 5) Emotionally sad scenes like Conor and his mother, Lizzie, as she dies from cancer at the end.
 * 6) Fantastic performances with Lewis MacDougall.
 * 7) A heartwarming original ending not found from the book did have Conor learned that her mother met the monster while reading her drawing books.

Bad Qualities:

 * 1) Harry, Conor's bully, is an extremely unlikeable character/antagonist who has no reason to beat up Conor just for being invisible. He does things like tried to seemingly break Conor's jaw, tried to corner him outside after school, and pouring juice on Conor's drawings which led him to beat him up and hospitalized him.
 * 2) It can get mean-spirited where Conor is constantly abused by his bully, Harry all for his satisfying amusement.
 * 3) Conor is somewhat a generic "bullied" kid, who acts very out of character and doesn't even bother telling his teachers or parents about his problem.
 * 4) It maybe depressing and too dark.
 * 5) Lily, a friend of Conor does not appear in the final film.