March 11, 2024 (SXSW)
April 5, 2024 (United States and Canada)
Monkey Man is a 2024 action thriller film directed and produced by Dev Patel in his directorial debut, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Paul Angunawela and John Collee. The film stars Patel as Kid, a man who seeks vengeance on the corrupt leaders responsible for his mother's death. Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, and Vipin Sharma are featured in supporting roles.
Monkey Man premiered at South by Southwest on March 11, 2024, and was released theatrically in the United States and Canada by Universal Pictures on April 5, 2024. The film was critically acclaimed and grossed $35 million worldwide against a $10 million budget. It was nominated at the 78th BAFTA Awards for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.
Storyline
In a forest village in India, Kid lives with his mother Neela and is inspired by her tales of Hanuman. Baba Shakti, a spiritual guru in the nearby city of Yatana, sends corrupt police chief Rana Singh to evict the villagers, who are members of a persecuted religious minority, and acquire their land. The village is massacred, but Neela hides Kid before she is killed by Rana, who sets her body on fire. Kid's futile attempts to save Neela leave his hands burned and scarred.
Years later, an older Kid works as a heel and jobber at the underground fight club Tiger's Temple, wearing a monkey mask. Kid is determined to exact revenge on Rana, who frequents Kings, a luxury brothel and cocaine den disguised as a social club. Kid infiltrates Kings through an elaborate ruse to meet the manager and pimp Queenie Kapoor and persuades her to give him a job as a menial kitchen worker. Kid befriends Alphonso, a gangster working for Queenie, and Sita, one of the exploited prostitutes. Kid rigs a bout at Tiger's Temple in Alphonso's favor to make him money in exchange for a promotion to waiter; Kid plans to use his new role to get closer to Rana to exact his revenge.
Kid buys a revolver and trains a stray dog to carry it to a rear door to avoid security at the entrance of Kings. Kid serves Rana cocaine spiked with powdered bleach to drive him to the restroom, where he can be shot privately. The assassination attempt is botched, and Kid is forced to fight his way out of the building. He flees in Alphonso's supercharged auto rickshaw and is chased by the police. Kid crashes the rickshaw and is arrested. Kid manages to break out of police custody, but is shot by a police sniper during his escape. He falls into a canal and is rescued by Alpha, the keeper of a local temple devoted to Ardhanarishvara. The temple is a sanctuary for Yatana's hijra community, which is being targeted by Baba's nationalist and ultraconservative movement.
Kid recovers at the temple after learning that he is now a wanted fugitive. Alpha guides him through a hallucinogenic experience in which he confronts the trauma of his mother's death. With a newfound sense of purpose, Kid trains in combat to fight for himself and the marginalized. When the hijra's sanctuary is threatened, Kid fights again at Tiger's Temple, placing a bet on himself. He purposely defeats two faces and emerges victorious with enough money to save Alpha's temple.
During Diwali, Baba's candidate gets elected and their nationalist party celebrates at Kings. Kid bleaches his monkey mask white and fights his way inside with improvised weapons, joined by Alpha and her warriors. Queenie attempts to shoot Kid but is killed by Sita. Kid beats Rana mercilessly in a fistfight, killing him. He uses Queenie's severed thumb to access the penthouse and reach Baba, who stabs him with blades hidden in his padukas. Kid kills Baba using the same blades against him. Having finally avenged his mother's death, Kid collapses from his injuries, reminiscing about Neela and his devotion to Hanuman.
Movie Trailer
- Monkey Man (2024) (Trailers)