After premiering at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival over three years ago, Monster is finally releasing on Netflix today. And the legal drama has arrived …
After premiering at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival over three years ago, Monster is finally releasing on Netflix today. And the legal drama has arrived not a second too soon, because it’s high time the world caught on to the talent of Monster ‘s lead actor, Kelvin Harrison Jr. Not to be confused with the upcoming Ryan Murphy miniseries, the movie Monster is an adaption of the 1999 novel by Walter Dean Myers. Maybe you read the book in school: Protagonist Steve Harmon is a 17-year-old boy on trial for murder. He’s been accused of being involved in a fatal bodega robbery—others involved and witnesses say he was the lookout. The prosecution wants to label him a “monster.” Steve—an honor student and an aspiring filmmaker—says he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just like the book, the film is structured around the trial and flashbacks. Voice-over narration from Steve combines first-person diary entries and third-person screenplay directions—pretty meta, considering you’re watching a film rather than reading a book. Not everything works, but the parts that do are usually thanks to Harrison, the 26-year-old actor who, before the pandemic hit, had been gaining momentum in his career.
