Is J.A. Bayona’s A Monster Calls more poetically tragic than it is manipulatively saddening? At this moment in my writing, I’m not 100% sure. Did I cry? As anyone who might have read Patrick Ness’ novel can confirm (a story he finished after Siobhan Dowd’s passing), it’s hard not to soften like melted butter throughout this childhood nightmare. Quite literally, Bayona orchestrates a visual representation of “letting go,” right down to our young protagonist grasping dearly onto what he loves most. For children, it’s an easy-to-understand lesson that resonates on many levels (loss, bullying, outcast mentalities), but again, are we merely crying because the situation dictates it? Or is there a strong emotionally undercurrent dragging out our tears with each protest of inevitability.

Young Lewis MacDougall stars as Connor, a British child dealing with a not-so-typical conflict. His mother (played by Felicity Jones) suffers daily from a terminal illness,...