Monster is a 2018 American legal drama film directed by Anthony Mandler, from a screenplay by Radha Blank, Cole Wiley, and Janece Shaffer, based on the novel of the same name by Walter Dean Myers. It stars Kelvin Harrison Jr., Jennifer Ehle, Tim Blake Nelson, Nasir "Nas" Jones, Rakim "A$AP Rocky" Mayers, Paul Ben-Victor, John David Washington, Jennifer Hudson, and Jeffrey Wright. Wright, Jones, and John Legend also serve as executive producers on the film. Three years after its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2018, the film was acquired by Netflix and released on May 7, 2021. It received generally positive reviews from critics. Premise Cast Release The film premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. In April 2019, it was announced that Entertainment Studios had acquired distribution rights to the film, retitled All Rise. In November 2020, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film, with the title switching back to Monster. It was released on their service on May 7, 2021. Reception The website's critical consensus reads, "Monster would have benefited from a less heavy-handed approach, but Kelvin Harrison Jr.'s performance gives this timely drama emotional heft." According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average score of 56 out of 100 based on 18 critics, the film received "mixed or average reviews". See also List of black films of the 2010s List of hood films References External links 2018 films 2018 directorial debut films 2018 drama films American drama films Hood films English-language Netflix original films Films based on American novels Films directed by Anthony Mandler Courtroom films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films