Monkey Man (2024)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A man seeking vengeance for his mother's death must navigate a corrupt landscape and a dangerous underworld to confront the leaders responsible.
The story
In a forest village in India, a man named Kid lives with his mother, Neela, and is inspired by her tales of Hanuman. Their lives are shattered when a corrupt police chief, acting on behalf of a spiritual guru, arrives to seize their land, leading to a violent massacre. Neela is killed, and Kid is left with physical scars from his attempt to save her. Years later, Kid lives in the shadows, working in an underground fight club while wearing a monkey mask. He begins a calculated infiltration of a local social club to get closer to the man responsible for his past tragedy.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After the massacre of his village, Kid spends years as a masked fighter in an underground club. He infiltrates 'Kings,' a luxury club, to get close to the corrupt police chief Rana Singh. After a failed assassination attempt and a subsequent escape, Kid is rescued by Alpha, who runs a sanctuary for the marginalized hijra community. During his recovery, Kid undergoes a hallucinogenic experience to confront his trauma and trains to fight for the oppressed. During a major festival, Kid infiltrates a celebration at Kings, where he faces off against the corrupt leadership. He defeats the manager, kills Rana in a fistfight, and ultimately confronts and kills the guru, Baba Shakti, finally avenging his mother's death.
- First release year
- 2024
- Runtime (minutes)
- 121
- Production countries
- Canada; United States
- Original languages
- English; Hindi
- Directors
- Dev Patel
- Writers
- Dev Patel · screenplay; Paul Angunawela · screenplay; John Collee · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Dev Patel · Kid; Sharlto Copley; Pitobash; Vipin Sharma
- Genres
- action; thriller
- Themes
- corruption; discrimination; caste system; poverty; marginalized communities
- Tone and mood
- violent; gritty
- Setting
- India, specifically a village and the city of Yatana.
- Premise and plot tags
- vengeance; underdog; action-thriller
- Content notes
- violence
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews and was described as 'monumentally entertaining' and 'wild and stylish' by critics, while audiences gave it a 'B+' rating.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 70 · scale: 100 · review count: 48
- Awards and nominations
- Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer · BAFTA Awards · Nomination
- Production trivia
- Dev Patel conceived the idea in 2014.; The film was nearly canceled by Netflix due to its gritty nature and political commentary.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…