Monkey Man

In cinemas now

Dev Patel’s audacious directorial debut delivers on a number of different fronts. Firstly, its unapologetically violent action sequences means that it more than lives up to its ‘John Wick in Mumbai’ billing. Patel makes for a convincing action star and clearly has a deeper appreciation and understanding of the genre than most who put their name to it. Courtesy of his direction, Sharone Meir’s gripping cinematography, and Jed Kurzel’s pulsating score, Monkey Man is a revenge thriller for the ages.

However, beyond the film’s technical efficiencies is an even more compelling and impressively daring story that nods to Patel’s Indian heritage and ensures Monkey Man is a far more soulful affair than many of its other genre counterparts. Indeed, the socio-political commentary of its screenplay, which Patel co-wrote with Paul Angunawela and John Collee, was enough to make Netflix shop it around to other buyers, a decision that eventually led to the involvement of Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions.

We all ought to be grateful for that rescue act because Monkey Man is that most refreshing of pictures, one that features a diverse cast and an original concept that educates viewers on issues that they might otherwise be blind to (in this case, the ongoing corruption associated with India’s caste system). Put simply, it is a most impressive opening salvo from a star that clearly lives and breathes his craft.