John H. Foote
Walking into this film I did not know what quite to expect as I knew little about the work or its history. Based on the acclaimed novel by Patrick Ness, the film is a dark fantasy about a child coming to terms with impending death of his mother (Felicity Jones) and a magical tree that comes to life to aid him on his journey.
Conor (Lewis McDougall) is a deep thinking artistic little boy who is bullied relentlessly at school, struggling with the knowledge that his mother has terminal cancer and can do little, his father is not around and his relationship with his grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) is sky at best. He feels utterly alone. Late one night a giant tree comes to life and visits Conor telling the child he will tell him three stories and when finished he expects Conor to tell him a tale of his one, filled with truth. The stories he tells will obviously help the boy on his journey to find some peace with losing his mother.
