Juan Antonio Bayona's new film, A Monster Calls, has been slowly teasing its potential audience with cast announcements, photos, and one teaser released late last year. And now, still six months before the film's release, there is a new trailer. This time, revealing just enough about the plot to leave little room for guessing, and enough information about the titulary monster to show off some stunning VFX.
A visually spectacular drama from acclaimed director Juan Antonio Bayona ("The Impossible"), based on the award-winning children's fantasy novel. 12-year-old Conor (Lewis MacDougall) attempts to deal with his mother's (Felicity Jones) illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that explore courage, loss, and faith.
Certainly, Guillermo del Toro's strong influence is on full display (as it was in Bayona's first feature The Orphanage), both in Bayona choosing this story (based on the novel by Patrick Hess) and in the aesthetics. But Bayona is a strong director who knows how to hold his audience's attention, and hopefully his presentation of the story will be strong as well. The film is due for release in the US on October 14th, and in the UK on October 21st. Check out the new trailer below.