"Whoa indeed."
A Monster Calls is quite simply a breathtakingly wonderful and utterly heartbreaking film. It becomes clear very early on that use of camera (especially framing) and sound are hugely enjoyable in their own right, let alone the story, writing and performances. This is a very skillful screen adaptation of his own novel by Patrick Ness, just as much about storytelling and imagination as it is about loss of innocence and bereavement. Sigourney Weaver and Felicity Jones both get right to the truth of their characters (grandmother and mother), but at the film's heart is a truly astonishing performance by 14-year-old Lewis MacDougall which puts to shame many higher-paid and older Hollywood actors. This deceptively simple tale is bursting with visual creativity and has an emotional honesty that never resorts to melodrama, resulting in one of the best films of recent years.
No comments:
Post a Comment