John Legend’s ‘MONSTER’ Comes to Netflix

Imagine being a teenager, on the top of your game. A’s in all of your classes, a honor student, an artist and all of your hopes and dreams in front of you. All to be taken away in an instant. With one decision, your entire life changes. Based on the original novel written by Walter Dean Meyers, Monster tells the story of a 16-year-old teen from Harlem whose life comes to a screeching halt when he is suddenly charged with felony murder. Guilty or innocent, he becomes a pawn in the hands of “the system”.

This story follows the fictional character, Steve Harmon, in a story that unfortunately is all too familiar to many who end up as a product of inner-city poverty and circumstance. In a way to cope with the horrific ordeal he’s going through, the amateur filmmaker decides to make art out of his struggle, transcribing his trail into a script form.

3 years after its debut at the Sundance film festival, the movie based on this intense dramatic novel will finally make its way to streaming platforms. Executive produced by John Legend and directed by Anthony Mandler, MONSTER will arrive May 7^th on Netflix. The film features an all-star cast including Kelvin Harrison Jr. (The Trial of the Chicago 7) and also includes Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson (Respect), Tony winner Jennifer Ehle (Saint Maud), Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jeffrey Wright (The Batman), Golden Globe nominee John David Washington (Tenet), Mikey Madison (Better Things), Tim Blake Nelson (Watchmen), Grammy nominee Rakim Mayers (Dope) and Lovie Simone (Selah and the Spades).

The award-winning novel is said to be one of Walter Dean Meyer’s most compelling works of art and the movie is right up there with it! MONSTER depicts themes of identity, race, peer pressure, crime, masculinity, the subjectivity of what truth is and how quickly you can get wrapped up in this “system” and in this world.

Check out the trailer:

I’m excited to share this beautiful, emotional and important story with you all. Monster – directed by @anthonymandler and starring Kelvin Harrison, @iamjhud, @jfreewright, @JharrelJerome, Jennifer Ehle, @asvpxrocky, @Nas – coming to @Netflix on May 7th. #getliftedfilmco pic.twitter.com/8NrTJPnq43

— John Legend (@johnlegend) April 6, 2021

Also coming to Netflix soon is the new season of The Witcher