I grew up reading this book. Nowhere do I remember it being about a violent troubled child. The movie is full of violence and is scary in parts. At one point, one monster rips off the arm of another monster. I was unable to follow the conversations between the monsters in some parts. This is more an adult movie than for children. To me, it was just encouraging my children to act as badly as the main character. They wouldn't understand Max was acting that way because of loneliness and being scared.