Monkey Man

Dev Patel's terrific directorial debut, Monkey Man, is set in a teeming Indian city where the wealthy castes live and party in high-rise splendor and the low-born, outcasts and untouchables swelter in congested outskirts where they compete for scraps and opportunities to be exploited by their betters.

Patel is the nameless monkey-masked combatant in nightly underground matches where he takes dives after being pummeled by opponents. His punishing existence hides a consuming desire to avenge his mother (Adithi Kalkunte), who was murdered during a purge by government agents looking to expand the city's holdings.

After a failed attempt to assassinate the chief of police (Sikandar Kher), which leaves him nearly dead, the fighter is rescued by a community of transgender monastics, patched up, and in the style of many films of righteous underdogs, rebounds with new battle skills and vision. His guide through this recovery is the wise priestess of the temple, played by Vipin Sharma, who challenges the fighter to "get up" and meet his fate, leading a revolt against corruption and exploitation.

Patel's highly impressive film borrows more than a little from the John Wick playbook in its kinetic energy and enormous body count -- its fight sequences are astounding -- but it also has a unique distinction and cultural significance that nonetheless resonates in the U.S., where the poor and marginalized also must contend with one another and their oppressors.