'A Monster Calls' Director J.A. Bayona Calls the Film His Love Letter to Fantasy
A Monster Calls made its New York premiere on Wednesday night, and on the night director J.A. Bayona gave some insight into what inspired him to make the film.
“Nowadays, it’s tough to find something that deals with the world of childhood so seriously,” Bayona said. The film adapts the children's book by Patrick Ness, and follows a young boy who is comforted by a tree monster after his mother becomes ill.
“It reminded me of movies like ‘The NeverEnding Story’ or ‘E.T.,’ and I wanted to be the director of one of those.”
“I consider the movie almost a love letter to fantasy; it’s about how we need fantasy to understand reality,” he continued. “This is why we read books and why we go to the movies, because somehow books, they give us a better comprehension of life, more than life itself does.”
The film opens wide in the U.S. on December 23.
Source: Variety
