Monster's Ball

"A lifetime of change can happen in a single moment."

2001 1h 53m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 1,131

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A prison guard begins a tentative romance with the unsuspecting widow of a man whose execution he presided over.

“A lifetime of change can happen in a single moment.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Billy Bob Thornton
Hank Grotowski
Heath Ledger
Sonny Grotowski
Halle Berry
Leticia Musgrove
Sean Combs
Lawrence Musgrove
Yasiin Bey
Ryrus Cooper
Will Rokos
Warden Velesco
Milo Addica
Tommy Roulaine
Coronji Calhoun
Tyrell Musgrove

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Marc Forster
Writers: Will Rokos, Milo Addica
Languages: English, Ido
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $45M — a 11.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

25 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Ido.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Marc Forster, shot by Roberto Schaefer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Asche & Spencer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Matt Chessé shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Billy Bob Thornton and Heath Ledger and Halle Berry carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Marc Forster directs. Roberto Schaefer behind the camera. Asche & Spencer scores. Matt Chessé cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Ido.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $45M — a 11.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
325 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Ido.
5Directed by Marc Forster, shot by Roberto Schaefer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Asche & Spencer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Matt Chessé shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Billy Bob Thornton and Heath Ledger and Halle Berry carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "A lifetime of change can happen in a single moment.".
10IMDB entry: tt0285742 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 20 themes, including "new love", "ethnic stereotype", "waitress", "unsociability".

The technical file

Cinematography: Roberto Schaefer
Original score: Asche & Spencer
Editing: Matt Chessé
Production design: Monroe Kelly
Costume design: Frank L. Fleming
Makeup / hair: Lynne K. Eagan
Stunt coordinator: Harry Harris III
Runtime: 113 min · 1h 53m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,000,000
Box office: $44,900,000
Return: 1123% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Monster's Ball (2001)

Awards

National Board of Review Award for Best Actress
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
National Board of Review Award for Best Actor
Japan Academy Prize for Outstanding Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Actress

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Marc Forster

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2018-10-21
★ 6/10
Powerful message in a melancholic drama bogged down by un-real contrivances and other issues A father and son (Billy Bob Thornton and Heath Ledger) are correctional officers in Louisiana who live with their father, a former corrections officer and hateful racist (Peter Boyle). After overseeing the execution of a black man (Sean 'Diddy' Combs) a couple of tragedies compel the father, Hank (Thornton), to meet the struggling ex-wife of the executed man (Halle Berry). The cast, locations, score and directing are all excellent. The problem is the contrived script, which tends to focus on the worst in humanity and sometimes creates a feeling of surreal un-reality. As far as the former goes, the first half features ugly racism, prostitution (and the corresponding overt sex scene), hate, a prison execution, an unforeseen suicide and a sudden hit-and-run. If you can handle all that in the first 55 minutes, you might appreciate this movie. Some of these sequences work (the prostitute scene and the execution) and some don’t (the racism, suicide and hit-and-run). The latter ones have a sense of unreality either because of dubious writing or weak execution, or both. Take, for instance, the racist remarks by the old patriarch (Boyle). They come off unbelievable and laughable (or maybe they wanted them to come off laughable?). With better writing/acting/directing they would’ve worked. Or take the hit-and-run: it’s totally off-camera; and the segue into the aftermath is weak. The viewer is left asking, “What just happened? Did I miss something?” As for the suicide, it was just unconvincing in more than one way. Halle won an Oscar for her performance, but I found her miscast. She was too white, too intelligent and too young/gorgeous for the role. As for being “too white,” her son would’ve had lighter skin. In regards to being “too intelligent,” when she has a long talk with Hank on the couch I didn’t buy her character. It came across as an obviously enlightened Berry ACTING uneducated and low class. As for being too young/hot, are we to believe she’s been drinkin’ and smokin’ for ELEVEN YEARS waiting for her former husband to be put to death without any dudes sniffin’ around and no worse for the wear? She should’ve been made up to look older or, at least, more drained. Instead, she looks fresh and thoroughly beautiful from head-to-toe. Despite all these considerable negatives, the movie conveys a well thought-out message and contains some worthy intricacies, not to mention it refuses idiotic political correctness. For instance, the prisoner honestly admits what he did was wrong and accepts his fate as just, even while he’s clearly repentant. Moreover, the wife wants nothing to do with him and only visits for the sake of their son. A critic wrongly argued that a certain character was a hardcore racist and wouldn’t have such a “sudden change of heart.” Well, this critic wasn’t watching closely. At the beginning of the movie this character was well into the process of metamorphosizing from his father’s odious mindset. Yes, he does something hateful with his rifle near the opening, but this was a PERFORMANCE for his dad who was peering through the window with approval. In short, the hateful patriarch still exercised his insufferable iron will over the family even while he was restricted to a wheelchair and stroller. The film’s about freeing oneself of that power and that hate; and much more. The movie runs 1 hour, 51 minutes and was shot in Laplace, Louisiana, and Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola. GRADE: C+/B-

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