Monsters Ball Movie Recap (2001)

 

March 24, 2002 Halle Berry won Best Actress and with this she became the first and so far the only (and as of 2025) African American woman to win this award. The movie she won for was 2001’s Monsters Ball. To this day, people ask was this win a cop out win because a black woman has never won this award? The only way to find out is if we recap the movie she won for.

Monsters Ball Movie Recap

In the beginning we meet Hank Grotowski (Billy Bob Thornton). Hank works as a CO, as did his father (whom is retired as a CO). Hank recently lost his wife, hence why he is living with his father and brother. Within the first five minutes, we are shown an encounter with a man and a prostitute. They do there thing but we don’t see the guy ever again, has me wondering what was the purpose of this scene? If anyone has a theory on why this scene is here let me know. Back with Hank, he and his father is a devout racist. He spot two black kids approaching his house and orders Hank to scare them off. The black boys were friends of Sonny (Heath Ledger RIP), Hank’s son. Hank fires a shotgun in the air to scare them off.

As Hank leaves for work, he is encountered by the boy’s father (Saddiq Bey formerly Mos Def) after the incident. At a bar, Hank tell his son not to mess up an impending execution they state has planned. The man they plan to execute is Lawerence Musgrove, played by Sean Combs the man whose. Lawerence is sentenced to death for killing a cop. He’s been on death row for eleven years and his execution date is impending. He shares one final conversation with his son. But we also meet Leticia Musgrove (Halle Berry, Academy Award winner) his wife. The only reason she came is to so that he could say goodbye to his son. Leticia isn’t doing well financially or mentally. She can barely hold down the house and their car is struggling with radiation problems.

We are shown how the state prepares execution. They try to make his last days tolerable. He’s requested a pen and paper to draw while he awaits his final day. He gets one final meal but Puff is hyperventilating knowing what’s coming next as his anxiety is through the roof. The next day, COs shave every hair on his body for safety reasons (especially for those sentenced to an electric chair). During Puff’s final walk, Sonny gets sick and vomits, ruining Puff’s final moments. On the chair, Puff’s final words are “No, Push the Button” and like that he is in forever darkness.  You wouldn’t think much of it but Hank makes it a big deal that Sean punked out. Things get personal between the two and they get into a physical fight.

Back home, overwhelmed by her husband execution, Leticia takes out her anger on her son’s obesity, physically and verbally abusing him (insert: Halle Berry is a terrible Hollywood mother, insert: who keep giving her kids in these movies), this scene is lowkey hard to watch. Back home, Hank is still harassing Sonny about the fight in the bathroom. Hank orders Sean to get out for being a coward, until Sean pulls a gun on him. After this, realizing he’ll never live up to his grandfather and father’s expectations, he unalived himself. They bury his remains in the backyard of their property next to their mother. Hank shows little to remorse over his son’s passing. He just want to bury him and keep on moving. Shows that he struggles with his own emotions.

At the restaurant, Hank meets Leticia as she’s a waitress there. They don’t think much it. But she spill coffee on him and it shows that she’s too is emotionally unstable. After this, he believes he can get some feeling while encountering the same prostitute from the beginning. But for some reason, he goes limp and doesn’t proceed with the deed. After everything he tries to move on, he resigns as a CO. He burns his old uniform as it’s a sign he’s seeking a new chapter. He buys a gas station to distract him. Hanks spot Leticia and her son walking after their car breaks down from a radiator leak. But that night, he spots them again, this time he does think of it as Leticia’s son was accidentally struck by a vehicle. Hank gets them to a hospital to see if they could get help but sadly Tyrell doesn’t make it (insert: who keep giving her kids in these movies). In span of a week, Leticia lost her husband and then her son, going through unspeakable pain.

Hank tells his father that me moved on from being a CO to owning a gas station. He’s disappointed but Hank tells him, it is what it is. He goes to Leticia job and offers to give her a ride home; she turns it down winds up accepting. They have a conversation about their pain. Hank lost his wife and then lost his while Leticia lost her husband and son. Safe to say they have a lot in common. She invites him into her place and they drink. One thing led to another and it takes us to the scene. No, we are not showing it. But many call this a Top 10 Greatest Sex Scene of All Time and it was rumored that they were actually doing it, because of how real it felt in the movie. But actor BB Thornton was married to Angelina Jolie and that was a boundary she didn’t want to step over, so no they weren’t. Let’s move on.

That morning with a sober mind, Hank realizes that Leticia is the widow of Puff, the man he helped get executed. Out of guilt, he keeps this information about himself. The next day, he takes Sonny’s old truck to Mos Def for repairs, again out of guilt. Leticia is ready to move on and pawns her wedding ring for some cash. She then buys Hank a gift, but as she prepares to give him the gift, Leticia is encountered by Hank’s racist father. He’s not thrilled that Leticia walked in and after finding out who she is he does what racists do best and insults her. Just when Hank arrives, Leticia storms out. Realizing what he has done, Hank sends his father to a nursery home.  The scene where he’s carried by two black men puts a smile on my face.

Now Hank is alone at the property. He goes to Leticia’s job and tells her that his father is gone to the Nursery Home but she doesn’t want to hear it. Hank is in love so much he changed the name to his gas station to Leticia’s. Speaking of Leticia, she gets evicted from her home. She moves in with Hank after realizing she has no other place to go. They reconcile and they get down to, not showing it. While Hank is away, Leticia discovered that he was involved with execution of her deceased husband. Obviously, she is devastated but when it came time to confront Hank, she goes numb. I guess she realized of all the suffering she’s gone through, she knows how to cope with it. Then movie just ends with them eating ice cream, chocolate ice cream to be exact.

This was a movie where I was super lukewarm on first watch. But realizing some themes, it gave me a new perspective. One thing I’ve learned from watching this movie is that holding in your emotions hurts other people worse compare to you suppressing it. Hank, he gotten through with shutting down he never got express how he felt about his past. It wasn’t until he met Leticia who was going through similar circumstances was when he opened up. Thanks to Leticia, Hank was able to let go of his racist ways taught by his father. Another lesson, hate is taught but can be untaught or unlearned. Next question, was Halle Berry’s performance warrants an Academy Award or in Jadakiss terms “Why Halle have to let a white man pop her to get an Oscar?” (He also ask the same question to Denzel who also won an Oscar that same night, but that’s not we are here for) Sadly, it’s a question I can’t answer cause for one, I haven’t seen the other nominees which included Judi Dench for Iris, Nicole Kidman for Moulin Rouge, Sissy Spacek for In the Bedroom & Renee Zellweger for Bridget Jone’s Diary, I’m just going to post that question in the top pinned comment. Overall, solid movie, ton of gray area which leave the plot mostly unresolved. Let me say I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone who is currently dealing with death or coping with the grieving process of it all. But it’s fine but I wished I was Billy Bob Thronton that day (I did not just say that out loud).