Jennifer Hudson and Jeffrey Wright Explain Why Monster Deserved an Oscar Nomination

We often talk about the lengthy journey from the completion of a script to getting the financing and go-ahead to go into production, but in the movie Monster’s case, the waiting game happened after the film was completed and received a standing ovation at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Despite that warm reception, Monster is only first getting a release now. But on the bright side, it is getting a Netflix release, which gives the Anthony Mandler-directed film an opportunity to reach an especially large audience. The movie stars Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Steve Harmon, a teenager living in Harlem who’s an honor student eager to become a filmmaker. However, those hopes are obliterated when Steve is charged with felony murder. Did Steve really lose his promising future by participating in the crime or is he caught up in a rigged system? Monster explores the nature of justice through a deeply personal telling of Steve’s experience with the legal system, one that examines the drastically different ways those