WATCH: New Film ‘Monsters and Men’ Tackles the Devastation of Police Violence

By Sameer Rao Jan 19, 2018

"Monsters and Men," a new narrative drama depicting the fallout of a police shooting, premieres in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival today (January 19). Those who can’t make it to Park City, Utah before the final screening on January 26 can preview the film with this impassioned clip (above), which Deadline published yesterday (January 18). 

The film follows the trajectories of two men and one teenage boy after a White police officer fatally shoots a Black man in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, according to a description on the website for Department of Motion Pictures, the movie’s production company. Manny Ortega (Anthony Ramos, Netflix’s "She’s Gotta Have It") weighs the risks and responsibility of releasing his video of the shooting. Dennis (John David Washington, “Ballers”) is a police officer, trying to do damage control for his colleague’s actions. And high school star athlete Zee (Kelvin Harrison Jr., "It Comes at Night") becomes politicized by the shooting. 

The clip features Zee and his father Will (Rob Morgan, "Stranger Things"), who tries to stop the teenager from going to a protest the night before a big game out of fear for his son’s life and cynicism about what good can come from the action. "This happens every day, man, you better look at what’s going on around you," says Will. "Papa, I am listening," retorts Zee. 

"Monsters and Men," directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (“Stop”), also stars Chanté Adams (“Roxanne Roxanne”) and Nicole Beharie ("Sleepy Hollow") in supporting roles.