A Monster Calls Christian Movie Review (2016)

Guidance: Talk Together

This is a deeply sad fantasy drama about a boy facing his mother’s terminal illness, with frightening supernatural scenes, bullying, and emotionally heavy themes. Many families may find the grief content more intense than the surface fantasy elements, making this one better approached with conversation rather than as a light family movie.

Why This Guidance Level

The main concern here is not graphic content so much as emotional weight. The film centers on terminal illness, fear, anger, and grief, while also using a powerful supernatural figure and morally complex storytelling that can unsettle younger viewers. Content issues are moderate overall, but the themes are intense enough that many Christian parents will want thoughtful follow-up conversation.

Faith & Worldview Perspective

The film takes grief seriously and shows that denial, anger, and fear can live side by side in a hurting heart. It also argues that people are morally complicated and that truth can be painful but necessary. That honesty can open useful conversations, but the story’s spiritual framework comes through a mysterious monster and dreamlike truth-telling rather than hope in Jesus Christ. Christian families may want to discuss how lament, truth, and suffering are ultimately met not by vague spiritual forces but by the compassion and hope of Christ.

Truths Reflected

• Grief can bring confusion, anger, and deep loneliness, and people often hide painful truths.
• Human beings are not simply heroes or villains, and our actions have real consequences.

Tensions to Discuss

• The film explores spiritual and moral truth through a supernatural being outside a Christian framework, which may blur where truth and comfort should be sought.
• Its moral vision can lean toward ambiguity without clearly grounding truth, guilt, and hope in God’s character and redemption in Christ.

Content & Discernment Markers

Occult & Spiritual Content

• A towering monster appears to Conor at night, speaks directly to him, and says, “I have come to get you, Conor O’Malley,” later warning, “I will shake your walls until you wake.” The film treats this supernatural presence as a guide into hidden truth rather than simple fantasy adventure. Parents may want to discuss where Christians look for truth, comfort, and courage when fear is overwhelming.
• The monster frames itself as a teller of deeper truths and demands a final confession from Conor: “You will tell me a fourth, and it will be the truth.” This gives the supernatural figure unusual moral authority, which may be worth comparing with the way Jesus Christ is the true source of truth and hope.

Sexuality & Relationships

• Sexual content does not stand out as a major issue in this film. Relationship material is mostly tied to family strain, illness, and the boy’s fear of losing his mother.

Identity Themes

• Identity themes are not a central concern here. The story focuses more on grief, family instability, and a boy’s emotional isolation than on modern identity messaging.

Violence & Intensity

• School bullying is personal and painful. Conor is mocked with lines like, “He’ll have to get his slaphead mother to kiss it for him,” and there is physical aggression around him as classmates taunt and crowd him. This matters because the cruelty is tied to his mother’s illness and his social isolation.
• The monster’s presence is threatening rather than merely whimsical. Its nighttime arrival, loud voice, and warnings create fear, and younger viewers may find the scenes intense even without graphic violence.
• The fantasy storytelling includes references to death, war, and violent acts in tale form, including lines about men killed by a spear and a wicked queen. The material appears more storybook and thematic than graphic, but it adds to the film’s dark tone.

Language & Humour

• Language includes a sharper insult when Conor says, “What a bunch of assholes,” along with milder words such as “stupid” and “drunk.” The speech is not constant, but that insult is strong enough that many parents will notice it in a film about a young teen.

Other Content Notes

• The heaviest material is the mother’s illness and medical distress. Dialogue about treatments, decisions, and a frightening medicine emergency makes the family’s suffering feel immediate and real. For many children, this emotional pain will land harder than the fantasy elements. Parents may want to talk about grief, prayer, and how God meets us in suffering.
• Family tension is strong throughout. Conor resists his grandmother, fears being sent away, and reacts with anger and denial when adults try to discuss what may happen next.

Notable Moments

• Bullying at school: Classmates mock Conor and insult his mother, showing how isolated and vulnerable he is.

  “He’ll have to get his slaphead mother to kiss it for him.”

• Monster’s first threat: The supernatural figure introduces itself in a frightening nighttime scene and promises to return.

  “I have come to get you, Conor O’Malley.”

• Demand for hidden truth: The monster insists that Conor must eventually confess the truth buried in his nightmare.

  “You will tell me a fourth, and it will be the truth.”

• Medical crisis: A sudden health emergency with Conor’s mother raises the emotional stakes sharply.

  “Where’s the medicine? Conor! Conor! I’m here, darling. Deep breath.”

Discussion Prompts

• Grief and honest lament: Why do you think Conor keeps pushing away hard conversations? What does God invite us to do with fear and sadness?
  • Biblical guidance: Scripture shows that sorrow should be brought into the light. God welcomes honest lament, and Jesus Christ meets people in suffering with compassion.
  • Scripture: Psalm 34:18, Psalm 62:8, John 11:35
• Where truth comes from: The monster says it will lead Conor to the truth. How is that different from the way Christians understand truth?
  • Biblical guidance: Christians believe truth is not discovered through mysterious spiritual forces but revealed most clearly in God’s Word and in Jesus Christ.
  • Scripture: John 14:6, John 17:17, 2 Timothy 3:16-17
• Anger, cruelty, and response to pain: How did pain affect the way Conor and the bullies treated others? What does God call us to do with anger?
  • Biblical guidance: Pain does not excuse sin, but it does help explain why people need grace, repentance, and self-control.
  • Scripture: Ephesians 4:26-32, James 1:19-20, Colossians 3:12-14
• Hope when death feels near: What kind of hope does the film offer, and how is Christian hope different?
  • Biblical guidance: The film offers emotional honesty, but Christian hope goes further by pointing to Christ’s presence in suffering and His victory over death.
  • Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, John 11:25-26, Romans 8:38-39