No longer familiar with this country and unable to speak his native language, Kit embarks on a personal journey from Saigon to Hanoi in search of a place to scatter his parents’ ashes.

Khaou stated that the change was made because executives and financiers believed that "the Hank character’s voice – the dominant white American, in terms of the subtext of the war – had been heard before.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Monsoon sees writer-director Hong Khaou offering a thoughtful look at the emigrant experience, brought beautifully to life by Henry Golding's stellar performance.

"[11] Demetrios Matheou, in his review for Screen Daily, said that "it’s a touching, thoughtful and gorgeously shot piece of work, which both examines its protagonist’s experience of displacement and tenderly evokes a country moving energetically forwards while some are still tied painfully to the past.

"[12] Jessica Kiang, in her review for Variety, called it "A graceful and truthfully irresolute investigation into the strange, often poignantly unreciprocated relationship that many first- and second-generation emigrants have with the far-off foreign country of the past".

[13] Giving the film a 'B−' score, Gregory Ellwood writing for The Playlist said "for a naturalistically told story about a man finding his place in the world, slightly more emotion wouldn’t have necessarily been a bad thing".