Monkey Man explained

What is Monkey Man about?

Monkey Man takes Hindu mythology and applies it to the modern day politics of India. It assumes a strong stance against a rising tide of nationalism and homogeneity, and celebrates differences between people and the core beliefs of hinduism. All of this is packaged in a Wick-ian revenge thriller that slowly transforms into a call-to-action for the current generation, asking them to pay attention to more than their own interests and fight for a cause. 

Movie Guide table of contents

Cast

• Kid/Bobby/Monkey Man – Dev Patel
• Young Kid – Jatin Malik
• Neela – Adithi Kalkunte
• Alpha – Vipin Sharma
• Alphonso – Pitobash
• Tiger – Sharlto Copley
• Baba Shakti – Makarand Deshpande
• Rana Singh – Sikandar Kher
• Queenie Kapoor – Ashwini Kalsekar
• Sita – Sobhita Dhulipala
• Tabla maestro – Zakir Hussain
• Written by – Dev Patel | Paul Angunawela | John Collee
• Directed by – Dev Patel

The ending of Monkey Man explained

Recap

The end of Monkey Man begins following Kid’s time with the hijra at the temple. It’s a transformative period for Kid, as the existential experiences he has at the temple change him from someone who sought revenge for himself to a figure fighting on behalf of others. His foe is Baba Shakti and the extremist traditional views of the Sovereign party that threaten minorities, non-traditional groups (like the hijra), as well as small communities like the one Kid came from (that was destroyed and claimed by Shakti). 

To pay back Alpha and the hijra for their help, Kid steals from their donation box and uses the money to bet on himself (through the same boy who helped arrange the theft of Queenie’s wallet). In the ring, Kid, as Monkey Man, shows off his new-found strength. He makes short work of Tiger then the giant who follows. Afterwards, the crowd recognizes Monkey Man and hails him. The large cash prize Kid leaves at the temple with a note that says “It’s time to remember who you are.”

Kid bleaches his Monkey Man mask, turning it white.  

On the first night of Diwali, the city celebrates the holiday with a large street festival. Shakti arrives at Kings to celebrate the victory of his Sovereign party candidate in the election. Kid invades Kings, starting in the kitchen then working his way to the VIP area then to the highest levels. Supported by Alpha and the hijra, in full-on warrior mode, Kid reaches Rana. The two have a final one-on-one fight that Kid wins handedly. 

On the highest floor, Kid finds Baba Shakti. Looking out the window at the people celebrating on the streets far below, Shakti monologues a bit. Look at them all. Diwali. The triumph of light over darkness. The defeat of Ravan. But Ravan was no demon. He was a scholar, a visionary. He built an empire from nothing. Why not end this cycle of violence? Or we will be trapped in it for generations. 

Shakti holds up his sandals and tells another story. These were carved by a devout follower who wore them to prevent his feet from harming any small creature. On the side here, there is an old prayer. Forgive me, Mother Earth, for the sin of injury which I inflict with each step.

A passing helicopter distracts Kid. Shakti takes the opportunity to reveal that the horn of each sandal holds a blade. He stabs Kid with one, but our hero blocks the second with his hand, then steals the weapon and uses it on Shakti. The religious figure pleads for his life. These people need me. Please, I’ll do what you want. I’ll do anything. Forgive me. Have mercy, please. 

“Only God can forgive you, now,” Kid responds. Then drives the blade into the middle of Shakti’s forehead. His revenge complete, he gazes upon a giant panorama of Ram’s battle against Ravana. Kid has visions of himself as a child and his mother running through the woods. A voice recites a prayer. Oh God, I worship you. Only you. You are the most powerful one. You are my savior. You make us smile. And fill our hearts with love. All around the world. In my heart. In my home. You are everywhere. In every root, and every drop of water. With our eyes. With our ears. On our lips. We say your name. I sing your praise, day and night. Oh God, I worship you. Oh God, I worship you.

Kid falls out of the frame. The last shot is of his mother, smiling and laughing. 

Meaning

To understand the end of Monkey Man, you first need to understand Diwali. Diwali’s celebration is tied to the ancient epic of Rama. In short, Rama was a prince and had to leave his kingdom for 14 years. He departs with his wife, Sita, and brother, Lakshmana. Near the end of their travels, Rama ends up at odds with the demon king Ravana. Ravana kidnaps Sita. So the brothers go on this big adventure to prepare for a final battle. A big part of that involves meeting the king of monkeys and winning the help of the king’s top general, Hanuman. Eventually, Rama’s army clashes with Ravana’s. And the two meet in battle, with the prince defeating the demon.

Victorious in battle, with Sita regained, the party returns to the kingdom’s main city of Ayodhya. The people celebrate. Not only Rama’s return after 14 years away but the vanquishing of the demon king. Light won over darkness. Hanuman is pretty much Rama’s number one fan and stays with the new king. Eventually, though, after Rama’s passing, Hanuman would return to the forest. 

It gets pretty wild. From Durham University: After blessing all those who helped in the battle with gifts, [Rama] gave Hanuman the finest presents as a reward, but Hanuman immediately threw them away… Hanuman explained that he did not need  a gift to remember Rama, because Rama and his wife Sita would always be in his heart. Some of the servants were still upset and demanded that Hanuman prove what he said. So Hanuman took his sword and sliced into his chest, tearing his heart in two. Opening his heart, he showed the other servants that inside was painted a picture of Rama and Sita. 

Rama, who actually was Vishnu, a god, in human form, healed Hanuman and blessed the monkey with immortality. 

Okay. So that’s the context you need. The Monkey Man movie is essentially a broad re-telling of this battle between light and darkness. In this case, Baba Shakti, despite being a guru, is a Ravana figure. And Kid is like Hanuman in that he’s a powerful fighter who plays a pivotal role in the defeat of the demon.

The artistic twist here is that Patel has applied the story of Diwali to modern politics in India. Specifically, he’s positioned Baba Shakti, the elitist, and the Sovereign party—a party that promotes right-wing, traditional, nationalism-driven policies—as the darkness. In the light, Patel presents minorities, those of more humble economic status, and others who are repressed/oppressed. 

That political statement is why Monkey Man has been so controversial. As noted by Time: “Patel even briefly employs video footage of real protests against India’s current regime under the BJP (the Bharatiya Janata Party) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, albeit without invoking their names.” 

At the political rally for the Sovereign party, near the film’s climax, we get this speech from the Shakti: They have destroyed our sacred values. They have stolen our homes. Poisoned our childrens’ minds. They have polluted us with their symbols, their false idols. We have been blinded. Will you stand with us? Will you bleed with us? Will you? Will you? Victory for Mother India. Victory for Mother India. 

It’s a pretty big deal to take a culture’s most popular legend and apply it to the current political climate in order to paint the ruling party as a demonic force that needs to be eliminated. So that’s the overall message—Darkness has too much power in Indian politics, and this generation needs its Ramas and Hanumans to turn the tide.

Kid evolves from someone who was only fighting for himself to becoming the sword of the oppressed. That intense speech from Shakti plays over top of Kid’s final training with the hijra. The cross-cut formally positions Kid’s newfound strength as a direct response to the negativity of Shakti’s politics. The very next scene cuts to the hijra finding one of their own injured from an assault. You can imagine that was a byproduct of Shakti’s speech. 

So the end of Monkey Man is bittersweet. It hopes a solution exists. It trusts that light will prevail. That good will win. But not without a fight. Not without loss. Not without sacrifice. While it’s unclear if Kid lives or dies, the vision he has of his mother feels like a reward. Especially with the prayer that plays over it. A prayer that thanks and praises God. So you could view the scenes with young Kid and Neela as almost heavenly. That his physical sacrifice earned a spiritual reward. 

But, him falling out of frame also leaves room for a sequel. So it’s a nice safety precaution. 

The themes, message, and meaning of Monkey Man

Fighting for a cause

Kid is one of many people who have been hurt during Babi Shakti’s rise to power. He has spent years silently seething about it and letting the pain and trauma be an anchor on his life. But it’s exactly that pain that eventually empowers him. He turns it from a negative to motivation. The big thing is when the switch flips from simply seeking revenge for the past to wanting to change the future. It’s no longer about Kid and what happened to him. It’s about the people and what’s happening to them. 

I think that’s one of the reasons Patel’s character is based on Hanuman rather than Rama himself. Rama was the hero. Hanuman was an important, beloved sidekick. One of many who assisted Rama in the defeat of the Demon King. That’s what we see depicted on the large mural. Hanuman is part of the battle. A big part. But it took everyone coming together.

The second half of Monkey Man is essentially a retelling of the first half. Except in the first half, Kid does almost everything on his own. He has no help and his motivation comes from a selfish, almost masochistic place. In that second part, though, the difference is the friends he made along the way. Alpha and the hijra not only train Kid, they show up and save him. Even the one escort we kind of get to know, Sita, plays an important role by defeating Queenie.

By taking up a cause, Kid rallied others. None of them are Rama, the hero, but they’re all heroic and necessary. It’s the same thing in real life. It’s why voting is important. An individual vote probably doesn’t matter, but it’s still important to participate. Because each drop in the bucket adds up. And it seems that kind of activism, that message that you can make a difference in the political landscape, is part of what Patel wanted to say with Monkey Man. 

Duality

The Ardhanarishvara depicts Shiva and Parvati has a singular being made up of two halves—one male, the other female. The idea of synthesizing the masculine and feminine exists across cultures. The Chinese have ascribed a similar meaning to yin and yang. Navajo to the sun and the moon. Dependent energies that empower each other. Opposites in harmony.  

Alpha described the Ardhanarishvara to Kid as “One half devotion. The other? Destruction. Male. Female. Neither. Both.” While many see the hijra as “strange” or “unsettling”, Kid recognizes the humanity, grace, and power of the third gender. And how the hijra are the embodiment of this godly ideal and in that way quite special. 

One of the coolest thematic moments in Monkey Man is how the film extends this idea of duality from Shiva to the hijra, from the hijra to the tabla, where one drum is male and the other is female. The drummer uses that call and response between male and female energies to help train Kid on the punching bag and instill a rhythm that calls forth the power of devotion and destruction that Shiva represents. 

You can then extend that to the film’s political discussion. The traditionalism of the Sovereign party wants singularity. It actively rejects multicultural ideas. They treat anything different from themselves as cancerous and in need of removal. Whereas Kid awakens to the beauty of the multifaceted and becomes a champion of their right to be. 

The cyclical nature of things

The flashback to Kid’s childhood, that starts with him tearing open his own chest, begins with a community performance of the tale of Ramayana. The performer says “In each generation, the story repeats itself.” It’s a line that can very easily be overlooked. In all honesty, I might be giving it too much meaning. But the political nature of the film made the line stand out. As it presents the idea that the tale of Rama isn’t something bygone. It’s repeated in each generation. Meaning each generation has to, at some point, fight a battle against darkness in order to ensure the light continues for the next generation. 

Which is exactly what happens with Kid. He was not politically-minded. Only concerned with his own revenge. But once he had some sense knocked into him by the hijra, he sees the darkness all around him and becomes, in this microcosm, Hanuman.  

This also dovetails with the idea of renewal. Death and life. Alpha tells Kid how at the temple there’s “a tree that was supposedly planted by Lord Shiva, the destroyer of worlds. I was once like you. A broken man. A slave to childhood terrors. I learned that you need to destroy in order to grow. Create space for new life.”

Inherent to that is the idea of sacrifice. Neela sacrificed herself to ensure Kid survived the assault on the village. Likewise, Kid sacrifices himself (so it seems) for the greater good when he takes down Baba Shakti. 

Why is the movie called Monkey Man?

In the film, Monkey Man is the ring name Kid uses in the underground boxing club. He wears the mask to protect his identity. But also because he grew up with stories of Hanuman. Stories told to him by his mother and by others in the village. 

Outside the film, Patel uses the story of Hanuman as a framework for what happens in the film. The very first line of the movie is “Do you know the story of Hanuman?” Spoken by Kid’s mom. She explains that Hanuman, as a child, had great power, until he mistook the sun for a mango and tried to eat it. The other gods punished him by taking his powers. The movie stops the story there. 

The actual legend is a bit different. Hanuman did try to eat the sun because he thought it was a fruit. But the god Indra hit him with a lightning bolt. That actually killed Hanuman but yadda yadda he was brought back to life. It’s pretty Icarus-y. Nothing happened with the powers there. Later, Hanuman started pranking people. He f***ed around and found out when this sage got really mad at the prank so put a curse on the young monkey. That curse caused Hanuman to forget he had powers. He wouldn’t rediscover them until years later, as an adult. 

But the important thing in Monkey Man is the idea that Hanuman was powerful, lost his powers, then eventually regained them and helped Rama defeat the demon king. So it goes with Kid. He was full of potential, until Rana slaughtered the village. The trauma from losing his mom essentially robbed Kid of his powers. It isn’t until he “dies” and is brought back by the hijra that he remembers his own strength and becomes the Mighty One and can help defeat a demon king. 

So the film is a retelling of key points of Hanuman’s story but also tangentially recalls Diwali and this idea of defeating evil. Which ties into the political message at the core of the film and its commentary on the state of politics in India circa 2024. 

Important motifs in Monkey Man

Kid’s burnt hands

Kid burns his hands trying to put out the flames that engulf his mom’s body. An earlier conversation gives the burns a deeper meaning. 

Neela’s death robs Kid of his future. His entire life becomes defined by the pain and loss of that night. Which is symbolized by his burned hands.

That is, until his time with Alpha and the hijra. At the temple, Alpha tells him: You see scars. I see the courage of a child fighting to save his mother. These are … of the warrior who is destined to challenge the gods. All your life, you have been fighting to feel pain. You need to fight for a purpose. Fight for all of us. It’s time to remember who you are. 

Fighting for a purpose, fighting for others, brings Kid back to the present, back to the future. While his hands aren’t magically healed, they’re no longer simply scars. As Alpha said, they’re a sign of courage. 

The burns are also another callback to the actual legend of Hanuman. 

Roots, trees, and nature

Monkey Man takes place primarily in the city of Yatana (a fictional Mumbai). And we see a lot of poverty and claustrophobia. It almost feels like a prison. This contrasts the jungle village of Kid’s childhood. Lush, green, open. It’s meaningful when a city-living political figure like Baba Shakti invades the village and seizes the land. 

While the city is this place for conflict, nature is spiritual, enlightened. Neela makes this connection when she compares lines on your palm to roots in the ground. And again when Alpha describes how Shiva, god of destruction, planted a tree, and how that symbolizes the relationship between destruction and growth. So the tree is a sign of life. Of progress. 

Alpha mentions the tree again in this speech to Kid: Close your eyes and you will find yourself sitting atop a mighty tree…. Look beneath the surface and you will see roots deep under the soil, reaching far and wide. These are the roots of your ancestors. Your mother. Listen to your mother. You have nothing to fear. 

Lastly, nature gets brought up by Baba Shakti right before he stabs Kid. He mentions an ancient prayer carved into the side of his sandal: Forgive me, Mother Earth, for the sin of injury which I inflict with each step. 

Questions & answers about Monkey Man

Who is the giant man he fights?

The Bear. I literally can’t find any more information on the man. He’s not even listed on IMDB. 

Why does Kid take the money?

So he can bet on himself in a new fight.

Why did Kid bring and use fireworks?

Yeah, those didn’t do anything. I guess it seemed cool?

Why does Kid bleach the monkey mask? 

The northern plains gray langur is a monkey found in India. You actually see one in the trippy hallucination. They’re nicknamed Hanuman langur. Why? From Apenheul: Bengal Hanuman langurs take their name from the Hindu god Hanuman. According to his story, his face, hands and feet were burnt black when he tried to save his wife from a fire. His black body parts are just like those of the Bengal Hanuman langurs.

So turning the fur on the mask white is a way for Kid to present himself as Hanuman. 

Was Monkey Man based on John Wick?

You can definitely see that John Wick was an influence. They even reference it in the film. But it’s not like a remake or adaptation of John Wick or anything like that. The story is much more based on the deity Hanuman. 

What was the controversy around Monkey Man? What role did Jordan Peele play?

So Netflix had initially acquired Monkey Man under the idea that it was “John Wick in Mumbai”. They paid $30 million for the rights. But it wasn’t all fun and games. The political message within Monkey Man caused Netflix to have second thoughts about platforming. So they shopped it around. Jordan Peele saw it, loved it, and convinced Universal Pictures to buy it. For $10 million. 

Is Monkey Man for or against hinduism?

Monkey Man is a very spiritual movie that has great respect and love for hindu mythology, faith, and peoples. But it also has a lot to say about hindu nationalism and fundamentalism. It honors the foundations of the religion while criticizing the people who use it as a political tool. 

Why did Kid say his name was Bobby?

Because he was on an assassination mission, Kid took precautions to protect his identity. That included the lie to Alphonso that his name was Bobby. The camera even lingers on a shot of Bobby’s Bleach just so the audience knows where it came from.  

Now it’s your turn

Have more unanswered questions about Monkey Man? Are there themes or motifs we missed? Is there more to explain about the ending? Please post your questions and thoughts in the comments section! We’ll do our best to address every one of them. If we like what you have to say, you could become part of our movie guide!