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The Netflix drama follows 17-year-old Steve
Harmon, a promising film student played by Kelvin Harrison Jr.,
who insists he is innocent after he is arrested for his alleged
part in a fatal robbery at a bodega in Harlem, New York.
"It is right on time and it's so necessary. I don't think it
would have had a more important impact than it will coming out
now," said Jennifer Hudson, the Oscar-winning actress who plays
the central character's mother.
Jeffrey Wright, who portrays Harmon's father, said the film
raised questions about topics such as the mass incarceration of
Black people in the United States and how Black masculinity is
perceived both by Black men and by society as a whole.
"It's challenging for the individual who's trying to express his
manhood ... and it's also challenging for certain segments of
society to craft ... a respectful, honouring relationship with
Black masculinity," Wright said.
The movie, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival,
fleets between scenes from the past, where Harmon is seen
shooting films, in class and at home with his family, and the
courtroom where the prosecution paints him as a monster.
"It's a beautiful movie mostly because we get a chance to see a
young boy just try to find his way," said Harrison of the
character he plays.
"We don't often get to see how they actually are in their home
life, how they are with their friends, how they are with their
lawyers, how they are in the prisons, in those cells, and how it
affects their mental health."
The film, based on a 1999 novel by Walter Dean Myers, also stars
Jennifer Ehle and rapper A$AP Rocky.
"Monster" is released globally on Netflix on Friday.
(Reporting by Hanna Rantala, writing and additional reporting by
Marie-Louise Gumuchian, editing by Estelle Shirbon)
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