Kelvin Harrison Jr. astounded in his star-making turn in 2019’s Sundance favorite Luce, but a year before that film premiered at the festival, he led another that is finally getting a release. A harrowing adaptation of Walter Dean Myer’s novel, Monster (previously titled All Rise) is co-written by Radha Blank (The 40-Year-old Version) and directed by Anthony Mandle. Ahead of a May 7 release on Netflix, the first trailer has arrived.
The film follows Steve Harmon (Harrison Jr.), an intelligent seventeen-year-old prospective film student from Harlem, who has his whole world flipped when he is unjustly charged with felony murder and robbery. He then has to work within the justice system to prove his innocence and shed the moniker of being labeled a “monster” not just to the jury, but to everyone else in his life. The film also boasts a star-studded supporting cast including Jennifer Hudson, Jeffrey Wright, Jennifer Ehle, Tim Blake Nelson, Nasir “Nas” Jones, Rakim “A$AP Rocky” Mayers, and John David Washington.
See the first trailer below.
Monster arrives on May 7.