SXSW 2024 | Dev Patel’s directorial debut earns a standing ovation at SXSW; what is “Monkey Man” about?

SXSW Film Festival 2024 continues this week, with Nic Cage out and about in support of his latest feature “Arcadian,” but it’s British actor Dev Patel who has had people talking already this festival season. The “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Lion” star is presenting his first film behind the camera, the Jordan Peele-produced “Monkey Man.”

Peele was on hand to help introduce the film, screened at Austin’s Paramount Theatre on Monday evening, going as far ahead of the premiere to say: “This is a film that simply demands to be seen in a theatre with a huge rockstar audience.”

The usually reserved audiences at SXSW Film Festival also agreed with Peele’s sentiments - the film earned a rare standing ovation at the festival, with Dev Patel’s first directorial feature demonstrating why its original home on Netflix was eschewed for a theatrical run courtesy of Universal.

“People thought I went crazy. I’ve been away for a while. I was reading all these things on the internet ‘Where Are They Now?’ ‘What Happened to Him?'” Patel joked before the screening. “I’m not really fit for public consumption right now, I’ve been in a dark room, the paint is literally not dry on this thing.”

“I did a little film where I was just as awkward as I am now –it’s called Slumdog Millionaire. That film was discarded because people underestimated you guys, basically,” Patel told the audience. “And the same thing happened here. I put everything into this, I shot this film in the biggest slum in India, Covid hit, and the film went down. Everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. “

“And then Jordan came along in the end, he picked up from the ground, he brushed the dust off and put it on the mantelpiece.”

What is “Monkey Man” about?

“Kid, an anonymous young man working in an underground fight club, sets out to exact revenge against a group of corrupt leaders, who are responsible for his mother's death and also taking advantage of the poor and powerless people”

According to Deadline, “The movie based on the Hindu deity Hanuman, was inspired by Patel’s love of Bruce Lee movies, Korean movies, Bollywood titles and tales his grandfather told him as a child.”

Who stars in “Monkey Man” 

The one-sheet available from this year’s SXSW Film Festival has listed the following performers in roles in Dev Patel’s directorial debut - including “District 9” star Sharlto Copley.

• Dev Patel as Kid
• Sharlto Copley
• Pitobash
• Vipin Sharma
• Sikandar Kher
• Sobhita Dhulipala
• Ashwini Kalsekar
• Adithi Kalkunte
• Makarand Deshpande

Is there an age rating yet for “Monkey Man”?

The British Board of Film Classification has yet to assign an age rating to “Monkey Man,” however they did rate the trailer for the film as a 12A, leading some to believe it may end up receiving a 15 rating for cinematic release. 

When is “Monkey Man” released in the United Kingdom?

There is no release date as of yet for “Monkey Man” to be released in the United Kingdom, however, a United States release date has tentatively been set for April 5 2024; leading to speculation a UK release date will follow shortly afterwards.