'A Monster Calls' Clip: A Grouchy Boy Greets His Supernatural Friend (Exclusive)
Garnering enthusiastic reviews upon its premiere at last year’s Toronto Film Festival, A Monster Calls tells the poignant saga of a young boy named Conor O’Malley (newcomer Lewis MacDougall) trying to cope with both a dying mother (Felicity Jones), an absentee father (Toby Kebbell), and nasty bullies at school. Aiding him in that quest is an ancient tree monster (voiced by Liam Neeson), who arrives on his doorstep determined to help the young boy by telling him three stories. In Yahoo Movies’ exclusive new clip from the film (watch it above), Conor proves that he’s far from thrilled by his towering new friend’s arrival.
In the scene, Conor finds himself staring up at Neeson’s gnarly monster, who’s interested in regaling the boy with the first of his three oh-so-important tales. Unfortunately for the creature, Conor — a pre-teen whose circumstances have left him wracked with equal measures of rage, frustration, and sorrow — proves uninterested in listening to any fanciful fables, and all but turns his back on his extraordinary visitor. It’s anything but the open-eyed wonder with which most children greet fantastic beasts in movies such as this, but it’s nonetheless a moment emblematic of director J.A. Bayona’s film, which roots its fantasy in grief and loss.
Related: ‘A Monster Calls’ Director J.A. Bayona Branched Out Into Practical Effects
After an awards-qualifying run in select theaters last December, A Monster Calls — also co-starring Sigourney Weaver as Conor’s grandmother — opens in theaters nationwide beginning Jan. 6.
‘A Monster Calls’: Watch a trailer:
