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Conor O’Malley breathes heavily, his panicked dreams causing sweat to roll down his forehead. The clock ticks away the minutes after midnight. At 00:07, the boy darts awake, and the monster calls. A towering, hulking tree, with limbs of twisting branches and eyes like fire, storms into the boy’s tumultuous life, wreaking havoc by… telling him stories.

This is the beginning of A Monster Calls, the film adaptation of the children’s book which fetched high praise for its writer, Patrick Ness, and illustrator, Jim Kay, upon its publication in 2011. The story tells the tale of 13 year old Conor, whose mother is suffering from the late stages of cancer, as he struggles to come to terms with the possibility of her death. Based on an idea conceived by Siobhan Dowd when she herself was dying from a terminal illness, the book is a tender and intricately constructed triumph of imagination and emotion. It is a satisfying blend of low-fantasy and coming-of-age realism. The film succeeds in translating this sensitive story to the big screen, in no small part due to Ness’ screenplay.

Masterful direction from J. A. Bayona brings a considerable dose of horror aesthetic to the film (Bayona directed the acclaimed 2007 film The Orphanage). The colours are dark, the sounds are creaky, and rain falls from the thundery sky in almost every scene. The world feels wet and heavy, stripped of light and humour. Relief, for Conor and for the audience, comes from creativity. The magic that the illustrated elements lent to the book has been incorporated into the film in a number of clever ways. The title sequence is a feast of watercolour figures and landscapes, and the drawings done by Conor are crammed into many of the shots. The stories that the monster tells him are all illustrated, providing delectable animated interludes that lift the mood and delight the senses. The CGI is also finely executed, with Liam Neeson’s familiar voice breathing humanity into the strange monster.

A Monster Calls will be released in cinemas on January 1st, and despite its solemn subject matter, it strikes one as apt viewing for the new year. It provides the kind of emotional outlet that feels cathartic and refreshing; a recognition of the depth of human love and emotion, rather than a sadistic trip through the wringer of mortal misery.