Based on Patrick Ness’ bestseller, A Monster Calls stars newcomer Lewis MacDougall, who anchors the story as a troubled young boy struggling to come to terms with his mother’s (Felicity Jones) terminal illness – a spot of soul-searching that has our protagonist crossing paths with a giant tree monster (Liam Neeson), of all things. Sigourney Weaver and Toby Kebbell also star.
The movie, directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival this week to strong reviews, with our very own Matt Donato saying the following about it:
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.
During their time in Toronto, we had the chance to catch up with both Felicity and Lewis to talk about their new film. Among other things, they told us what it was like working on such an emotionally draining movie, how Lewis dealt with acting opposite a character who wasn’t actually there in real life (the monster), some of the research Felicity did for her role and much more!
Hear what they had to say in the video above and be sure to keep an eye out for A Monster Calls when it opens this December.