Monster cast buoys Netflix crime drama that doesn t quite meet moment
Monster.
Photo by Anna Kooris/Netflix The reckoning over how Black people, and especially Black men, are too often regarded as threats by police and the public at large has been a long time coming. While there are examples of films confronting the issue going back decades, recent years have seen a notable uptick of filmmakers trying to illuminate something that has remained in the dark for much too long. The latest film to do so is
Monster, which centers on Steve Harmon (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.), a clean-cut kid with a passion for filmmaking who happens to live in a not-so-good neighborhood in New York City. As the film begins, Steve is in jail for what we soon learn is being an accomplice to the murder of a convenience store clerk, a crime committed by neighborhood acquaintances Richard “Bobo” Evans (John David Washington) and William King (Rakim Mayers, aka ASAP Rocky) while trying to rob the store.
CST
Netflix presents a film directed by Anthony Mandler and written by Radha Blank, Colen C. Wiley and Janece Shaffer. Rated R (for language throughout, some violence and bloody images). Running time: 99 minutes. Available now on Netflix. The still-timely and provocative crime procedural “Monster” has lingered in movie limbo since premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018 but is now finally seeing the light of day thanks to you guessed it Netflix. Based on the popular and acclaimed 1999 book by Walter Dean Myers and adapted with style and a keen sense of pacing by music video and commercial director Anthony Mandler, “Monster” is a cautionary tale about a good kid who gets caught up with the wrong people at the wrong time and sees that bright future fading into the abyss because even though he maintains he’s innocent, he’s a Black teenager accused of being an accessory to a deadly crime in the New York City of the 21
Directed by Anthony Mandler.
Starring Kelvin Harrison Jr., Jeffrey Wright, Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Ehle, Tim Blake Nelson, John David Washington, A$AP Rocky, Lovie Simone, Nas, Jharrel Jerome, Mikey Madison, Paul Ben-Victor, Dorian Missick, Jeremy Dash, Liam Obergfoll, Rege Lewis, Nyleek Moore, Joel Van Liew, Danny Henriquez, Adriana DeGirolami, Jonny Coyne, Roberto Lopez, Amanda Crown, and June Ballinger.
SYNOPSIS:
A smart, likable, 17-year-old film student from Harlem sees his world turned upside down when he’s charged with murder. We follow his dramatic journey through a complex legal battle.
On trial for a bodega robbery and murder Steven (the exceptional Kelvin Harrison Jr., always selecting intriguing projects) claims to have not taken any part; the 17-year-old observes that the fluorescent lighting drowns out the grays, only leaving white and black. Such is the case of a jury, tasked with only perceiving through the lens of guilty or not guilty. For music video direct
“ Monster,” a courtroom drama starring Kelvin Harrison Jr., Jeffrey Wright, Jennifer Hudson and Jennifer Ehle that s premiering Friday on Netflix isn’t actually new at all.
" Monster," a courtroom drama starring Kelvin Harrison Jr., Jeffrey Wright, Jennifer Hudson and Jennifer Ehle that s premiering Friday on Netflix isn’t actually new at all.Yes, it’s adapted from an . . .