After many months of being shuffled between different studios and uncertainty about its release, Monkey Man, Dev Patel’s directorial debut, comes to prove his abilities in a violent, rich and creatively stunning film.

Dev Patel is involved in every aspect of the film’s creation: directing, scripting, producing and then in front of the camera. This in itself is a feat, and demonstrates Patel’s ability to keep this type of project going almost single-handedly. From the very first sequences, it’s clear that Monkey Man takes advantage of the fact that it’s part of a long line of similar action films. Through subtle flashbacks and stalking, Dev Patel makes it clear that he’s setting up a revenge story. Our knowledge of the genre allows the director to quicken the pace and skip the introductory stages. Set in India, elite corruption and class differences are the political terrain in which our killer will immerse himself. From poor neighborhoods and homeless people sleeping on the floor to lavish evenings of lust, our Bobby’s enemy is not just one man, but a system of which he represents one of the centerpieces. Patel takes care to fortify this political architecture throughout the narrative with bits of TV news or other samples of sentences heard by our protagonist.

Patel takes full advantage of his knowledge of the action genre. Monkey Man hurtles along at full speed, never stopping, with the camera always on the move, usually on the shoulder. The fight sequences are brutal, merciless and make full use of the environment and backdrops. But Monkey Man is personal, both in its narrative and in its director’s desire to go beyond the clichés of the genre Patel also knows our expectations and uses the opportunity to turn them upside down or play with them, all with the aim of building the sequence in another direction.. The violence of the confrontations is exacerbated by a camera that follows every impact or knife laceration in real time. Sharone Meir’s camera choreography is often an integral part of the fights: if a man is thrown over a table, you can be sure that the camera will swing there too. Patel’s ingenious framing, composition and visual effects demonstrate a creativity that’s rare for a genre as visited as action cinema, and for a first-time director. Monkey Man allows itself every possibility in its visual style, climbing from branch to branch on impulse, but never losing the viewer.

And yet, in the midst of this frenetic pace, Dev Patel forces his film to take time to immerse itself in the world and culture in which it is set. Beliefs, religion and spirituality are an integral, founding part of Monkey Man. They are the source of our hero’s tragedy, and the only principles that enable him to stay alive and rebuild physically. Omnipresent in the paintings, statues and chants, this culture gives a consistency and coherence to its universe. And it makes us realize that this is not just about one man’s revenge, but about a forgotten community, sacrificed by a corrupt government.

Dev Patel knows what genre his film fits into, and is perfectly aware of his audience and their expectations, exceeding them every time. Monkey Man is brutal, dirty, in a constant race to renew its visual and technical creativity.