A Monster Calls Trailer (2016)

Trailer for A Monster Calls, starring Felicity Jones, Sigourney Weaver, Liam Neeson and Lewis MacDougall.

A visually spectacular drama from acclaimed director Juan Antonio Bayona (The Impossible), based on the award-winning children’s fantasy novel. 12-year-old Conor (Lewis MacDougall) attempts to deal with his mother’s (Felicity Jones) illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that explore courage, loss, and faith.

Anybody who has read the novel A Monster Calls can tell you that it's insanely depressing, even more so considering that the concept was created by author Siobhan Dowd, who was dying from cancer herself when the story came to her. Obviously some of the thoughts conveyed in the book were her very own.

Liam Neeson, who voices the tree, aka "Monster", has a bit of history doing voicework. He also voiced Aslan the Lion for the three Chronicles of Narnia films.

Considering that A Monster Calls was not exactly my favorite book thanks most in part to its conclusion, the film's trailer does a helluva job selling its concept and the heartstrings it is sure to pull; if you haven't heard, bring tissues. As an added bonus, the film looks to do an excellent job bringing to the screen exactly what readers imagined while flipping through the book's pages. At least, it is what I imagined.

While most of the story is focused entirely on Connor, played by Lewis MacDougall, and the Monster, perfectly voiced by Neeson, Focus Features was sure to fill out the rest of the cast appropriately, no matter how big or small the role. Sigourney Weaver as Grandma is a terrific choice -- though I imagined the woman to be older -- and even the cameo role of "Dad" got filled by Toby Kebbell, and he looks to be taking the (small) part seriously.

All in all there is nothing not to like. The adaptation seems to be a faithful one, though it might have added a bit more backstory to give added meaning to the Monster and possibly further guarantee that the entire audience will be crying by the time the credits role.