British-Indian actor Dev Patel became emotional after receiving a two-minute-long standing ovation at the world premiere of his directorial debut Monkey Man at the 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival in Austin, Texas on Monday.

Monkey Man, a vigilante-action thriller, is also penned and produced by the Dev. The movie headlined the second round of the film festival alongside the Sydney Sweeney-starrer horror film Immaculate and Rachel Zegler’s comedy Y2K.

In a video shared by a SXSW member, Dev can be seen in tears while the audience applaud and cheer for him during the film’s end credits. The Slumdog Millionaire actor folded his hands and thanked the viewers at the event.

Monkey Man follows a young man seeking vengeance against the corrupt leaders who killed his mother. Dev plays Kid, who lives his life wearing a gorilla mask in an underground fight club where he is beaten by popular fighters in exchange for cash. However, he soon discovers a way to exact revenge on the rich leaders who took away everything from him.

The film heavily draws from Indian folk tales and mysticism as Kid recalls a bedtime story of Hanuman and Ravana where a white gorilla emerged as the saviour of the people attacked by devils. Thus, he embodies the icon of the gorilla to not only avenge his mother but also to protect the weak.

Monkey Man marks Made In Heaven actress Sobhita Dhulipala’s Hollywood debut. It also stars a number of international stars like Sharlto Copley, Pitobash, Vipin Sharma, Ashwini Kalsekar, Adithi Kalkunte, Sikandar Kher and Makarand Deshpande.

Produced by Dev, Jomon Thomas, Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld, Ian Cooper, Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Christine Haebler and Anjay Nagpal, Monkey Man is slated to release at theatres on April 5.