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RLJE Films presents a film directed by David Oyelowo and written by Emma Needell. Rated PG (for thematic content, scary images, peril and some language). Running time: 92 minutes. Opens Thursday at local theaters.
This is a movie about a monster in the woods that’s really about much scarier things for children: a mother in one family who is seriously ill; a father in another family who is physically abusive; a wildfire raging in the mountains.
All terrific adventure stories like this need a winning protagonist — and Lonnie Chavis (“This is Us”) is eminently likable as 11-year-old Gunner Boone, a bright and sensitive kid in the sun-dappled, golden, cinematically ready Pacific Northwest town of Pine Mills, Oregon, who gobbles up books like Reese’s Pieces and is fast at work on his first graphic novel, about a ghost detective investigating his own murder. It’s easy to see why Gunner is consumed with fantasy and escapism, given his beloved mother Mary (Rosario Dawson, wonderful) is battling leukemia and Gunner is often at odds with his rigid, disciplinarian father Amos (Oyelowo), a military man who recently has returned home from an extended tour in Japan and is having great difficulty connecting with Gunner.