This week's film recommendation is Monkey Man (2024), directed by British-Indian actor Dev Patel and produced by Jordan Peele. The film is set in a fictional town that mirrors modern Mumbai, India, a setting that plays a significant role in shaping the film's cultural and social context. Patel stars as the main character, who introduces himself as Kid but goes relatively nameless throughout the film. Kid is on a John Wick-style revenge hunt to go after the people who burned down his village and killed his mother, and he elicits help from the marginalized transgender Hijra community—an action that helped the film receive praise from LGBT groups.

Monkey Man is an epic conglomeration of Indian culture, Hinduism, heart-pounding action, and political commentary. Patel weaves all these aspects into a film that generally does a great job of hitting all these elements together. It all seems like a recipe for a 5-star, hard-hitting film, but the film falls flat in helping us connect to the character and truly building up the reason why we should care about him. Even with the death of his mother and his overall hatred for his enemies, the pacing of the film doesn't lead us down that path of connection as well as we believe it could.

Even with that said, Monkey Man is a solid film that is sure to impress those who admire drama, action, and culture.

Watch Monkey Man on Apple TV or Peacock.

This is an excerpt from our August 29, 2024 newsletter. Love this recommendation? Discover more by subscribing to our newsletter here!