A Monster Calls
Focus Features | Release Date: December 23, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
33
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJan 5, 2017
J.A. Bayona's exquisite A Monster Calls blends pathos and sophistication, fairy tales and harsh realities into a small masterpiece. Read full review
100
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthSep 9, 2016
This beautifully structured fable may be focused on the specific pain, of a specific child, during a specific moment in time, but it blows up every fragment of its premise into heart-stirring universal appeal. Read full review
91
ConsequenceMarten CarlsonOct 1, 2016
Mixing horror movie imagery with honest, heart-wrenching human truths, Bayona has created a dark, coming-of-age masterpiece. Read full review
90
TimeStephanie ZacharekJan 5, 2017
Meticulously and sensitively made, though its best moments may be the lovely but intense watercolor-toned interstitial animated sequences that illustrate the monster’s thorny spiritual allegories, cartoons for grownups rather than for little ones. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternDec 22, 2016
Do watch it on a big screen to take in all the beauty. A couple of flawless live-action performances share the screen with lovely animation, and with whatever digital magic spawned the monster — who looks like a tree, has molten sap, biteless bark, Liam Neeson’s voice and a face that reminded me of Boris Karloff. Read full review
90
New York Daily NewsEdward DouglasDec 14, 2016
A lovely film and another impressive calling card for Bayona, who can mix genres in an innovative way like his former producer, Guillermo del Toro. He's created a deeply emotional film about loss that will probably have you crying by film's end. Read full review
90
The VergeBryan BishopSep 10, 2016
J.A. Bayona has created an unforgettable, emotional experience with A Monster Calls, one that lets us grapple with our most basic human fears and worries, while lighting a beacon of hope that can shine through that darkness. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeSep 10, 2016
The fact that not every terrible thing can be remedied or appropriately punished is a tough lesson even for adults to learn, but A Monster Calls helps find the sense in it. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonJan 5, 2017
A Monster Calls is the rare film that addresses the mysteries of childhood without succumbing to schmaltz. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanJan 5, 2017
Bayona understands the forces that bind families together and the ones that tear individuals apart. His real domain is childhood itself, and few storytellers summon its fears and fury so faithfully. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliDec 29, 2016
A Monster Calls is a deeply moving drama that should find favor with viewers of all ages (except the very young). It’s a stunning work of artistry and emotional heft with an ending that speaks as loudly to children, parents, and grand-parents. It’s difficult to shake and impossible to forget. Read full review
88
USA TodayBrian TruittDec 27, 2016
Monster offers a cathartic study in overcoming loss and traversing the fine line between childhood and adulthood under tragic circumstances. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversDec 21, 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. Read full review
83
The Film StageJared MobarakSep 10, 2016
This film thankfully isn’t a dramatic piece gunning for awards glory, but rather a heartwarming adventure through the emotional landscape of a child unsure how to live. It is very sentimental, but that’s kind of the point. Read full review
80
EmpireDan JolinJan 9, 2017
Part fairy tale/creature feature/domestic melodrama, this adds up to far more than a ‘one boy and his monster’ story — and is a tougher emotional journey as a result. Read full review
80
Total FilmJordan FarleyJan 3, 2017
If this isn’t the biggest tearjerker of 2017 we’re in for a distressing year. A truly, ahem, tree-mendous fantasy. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranDec 22, 2016
"Monster" is almost too ambitious to be completely realized. But when it works, which is most of the time, its story has a power which lingers in the mind. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeyDec 20, 2016
There’s a Spielbergian showmanship to Bayona’s films, wedded to an unabashed emotionalism, and this one reaches for you down in the gut. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisJan 4, 2017
Even when the film doesn’t hang together perfectly, MacDougall maintains its momentum as his character painfully journeys toward a sense of acceptance. It may be only a few days into 2017, but this is a performance that you’ll remember for the rest of the year and beyond. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniJan 5, 2017
A Monster Calls is an engrossing tragic fantasy, sustained by genuine sentiment. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubJan 5, 2017
Bayona remains a director whose work should be anticipated, and A Monster Calls is a solid fantasy drama. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyDevan CogganJan 5, 2017
Bayona packs his tale with spellbinding visuals and honest emotion, and if the ending doesn’t reduce you to tears, you may be the real monster. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTom RussoJan 5, 2017
A Monster Calls is a portrait of coping that’s both fascinating and heartbreaking. Read full review
75
Washington PostStephanie MerryJan 5, 2017
The whole endeavor runs a high risk of drowning in melodrama. But the movie avoids that pitfall, because nothing about the story or characters is easy or straightforward. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldJan 4, 2017
Older audiences braced for tragedy may be drawn to its imaginative visuals — the stories told by the monster are rendered in delicate, painterly animation — and to the achingly vulnerable, growing-up-too-fast boy at its center. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyDec 22, 2016
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. Read full review
75
New York PostSara StewartDec 21, 2016
Based on the book by Patrick Ness, the film belongs alongside “Pan’s Labyrinth” in the realm of darkly creative kid-centric films that are, at their core, not really kids’ fare at all. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayDec 19, 2016
The craft of the film is undeniable. The artistry is subtler and perhaps harder to perceive. But it’s there, lurking in the dark, waiting to rise up when least expected. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreDec 15, 2016
A Monster Calls makes a case for remembering that fairytales can terrify as they teach and test us. Read full review
75
IndieWireEric KohnSep 10, 2016
It’s a touching scenario, and one so well-acted and laced with superb special effects that even its more obvious beats cut deep. Read full review
70
We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoJan 5, 2017
A Monster Calls gets off to a rocky start, but once Neeson's talking tree starts spouting tales of wisdom, everything tightens as the tears start flowing. Read full review
70
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerDec 22, 2016
If you prefer to view dying as a natural part of life, a step in a cycle, this film will feel discordant and perhaps counterproductive. But visually it will certainly stick with you, and your children. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJan 5, 2017
It aims straight for our hearts, sometimes hitting the target, especially in some of the quieter scenes with Conor and his mother. But then the preachy tree rears its thorny head, and it keeps on talking and explaining, long after we get it, we get it, we get it. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghJan 5, 2017
Ornamented heavily with creative visual pleasures, the film is bogged down, not just by weighty thematic issues — death, divorce, bullying, unfairness — but by professions of its own grandeur. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTom HuddlestonSep 12, 2016
There's a gripping, dark, truly monstrous film lurking in here somewhere, but Bayona seems hell-bent on keeping it at bay. Read full review
60
The GuardianNigel M SmithSep 11, 2016
Ultimately, it tries a little too hard to wring those tears. Read full review
60
Screen DailyGraham FullerSep 10, 2016
The abutting of Conor’s conscious and unconscious states justifies the pullulating images, but the film’s overwrought tone can grate. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJan 5, 2017
Dealing with such heavy matters as death, faith and forgiveness, the film wants to be a classic-in-the-making, but it just doesn’t hit the emotional and narrative cues necessary for such a weighty job. Read full review
50
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 11, 2016
We’ve heard the same lesson countless times before in other movies, and though it’s certainly impressive to see Conor’s anxieties manifest themselves in such a stunning Ent-like being, as monsters go, Bayona’s creation is all bark and no bite. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineChuck BowenDec 20, 2016
A Monster Calls is both governed and straitjacketed by director J.A. Bayona’s competent impersonality. Read full review
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