Monkey Man parents guide: Hide your kids when you watch this one, folks!

Dev Patel stars in Monkey Man from Universal Pictures, an action thriller that was also directed by Patel. The star also took charge of the story and screenplay. The movie premiered in theaters earlier this year on April 5, 2024, and is now streaming on Peacock. This is definitely a must-watch if you missed it in theaters, but is it a movie that's safe to watch with kids around? Here's what we know and our best advice!

In the movie, we meet Kid (Patel), a young man who has his eyes set on revenge and is determined to not let anything stand in his way. Kid started as a fighter in an underground Indian fight club. He’s not the best, but he quickly starts ranking higher and higher. Throughout the film, we learn more about Kid and what fuels his rage, as well as more about the injustice that was done to his family. This makes it easy to root for him. But is a story of revenge, childhood trauma, and family tragedy something we want the little ones to watch? Yeah, I don’t think so, either. Is Monkey Man a movie older teens can watch, though? Let’s break down why Monkey Man is rated R. 

Monkey Man Parents Guide: Explaining the R age rating

Monkey Man is rated R, so that is your first red flag that this is not a movie you want kids to watch. But why, exactly, is the action-thriller rated R for? After all, each person is different, your teen may have different triggers than others. You know your kid best! The movie is rated R for language throughout, drug use, sexual content, nudity, and strong bloody violence. Let’s look at each. 

Sex and Nudity: Yes! There is plenty of sexual content featured in Monkey Man, including nudity. I don’t know about you, but this is one of the biggest no-nos as a parent. This is also a trigger warning because most of the sexual content is sexual assault against women, one scene even occurs in front of a young child – and it’s a tough one to watch!

Violence: The violence and gore in this movie is severe. There’s stabbing, killing, punching, blood, and everything in the book. The scenes are great, of course, there’s a reason why Monkey Man received high praise from both audiences and critics, but I don’t think young eyes have any business

Drinking and Drugs: From cigarettes to cocaine, there is moderate use of drugs in the movie, enough for me to advise young teens don’t watch. 

Overall Verdict: What age is Monkey Man appropriate for?

Monkey Man is only appropriate for adults and mature audiences. I do not recommend the movie to anyone under 18 years old. If it were only the language and some of the drug usage, the movie would be fine for teens over 15 or even 16. But then you add the sexual content, nudity, and violence? Nope.