It's very difficult to get me out to a movie that's about a kid coping with his mother's impending death. But apparently if you shove a giant tree monster in it, I'll go for it in a big way. It may not have escaped reader's attention that giant monster movies tend to get my attention a fair bit (if not, reread reviews of "Shin Godzilla", "Colossal" and "Kong: Skull Island"). But that's partially because giant monsters can be fantastic metaphors for all kindsa things - usually a random and chaotic power that strikes out at the world around it. In this case it's also a metaphor for anger and grief and fear of what's happening to you.
It's weird to say this about a film with, as mentioned, a giant tree monster in it, but this is a remarkably honest heartfelt film. Lewis McDougall's performance as Conor, the boy, ask for no sympathy and shows remarkable levels of naked pain, but he's never the less compelling. All of the film is seen through his viewpoint, and it's a tribute to the actor that he's as compelling as he is. Liam Neeson's voicework manages to make the monster terrifying while also wise and strangely unknowable - it takes you some time to work out if the monster is a friend or a foe. Felicity Jones as the mother starts out, perhaps, a little stragely distant - she clearly loves Conor but at the same time she doesn't seem to recognise what pain her son is in - but it becomes clearer as the film progresses that she is indeed quite aware and trying to balance her love for her son with ways to protect him from the truth. Sigourney Weaver's british accent is tentative and a little, perhaps, over-studied, but it helps with the emotional distance between her and Conor that has to be bridged.
As this film ended, I fell utter victim to its emotional spell. It's moving as hell and wildly compelling. Go see it.
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