It stars Billy Bob Thornton, Heath Ledger, Halle Berry, and Peter Boyle, with Sean Combs, Mos Def, and Coronji Calhoun in supporting roles.

Thornton portrays a corrections officer who begins a relationship with a woman (Berry), unaware that she is the widow of a man (Combs) he assisted in executing.

[3] Monster's Ball premiered at AFI Fest on November 11, 2001, and was theatrically released in the United States on February 8, 2002, by Lionsgate Films.

They reside with Hank's father, Buck, an ailing, bigoted retired correction officer whose wife died by suicide.

When Willie and Darryl Cooper, friends of Sonny's who are Black come by the house, Hank frightens them off with a shotgun at the behest of Buck.

While at home, overwhelmed by her husband's impending death as well as numerous personal and financial difficulties, Leticia lashes out at her son for his obesity, resorting to physical and emotional abuse.

He subsequently resigns as deputy warden, burns his uniform in the backyard, and locks the door of Sonny's room.

One rainy night, Hank is driving and sees Tyrell lying on the ground by the side of the road, with Leticia calling for help.

She is horrified at first by the revelation but, numbed by her suffering and realizing the execution was obviously legal since Lawrence likely committed murder, she stays.

[8] They wrote the script over a period of eight months in 1995, which led to some interest from a producer of a film Rokos had previously acted in.

The site's critical consensus states, "Somber and thought provoking, Monster's Ball has great performances all around.

"[13] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 69 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

What a shock to find these two characters freed from the conventions of political correctness, and allowed to be who they are: weak, flawed, needful, with good hearts tested by lifetimes of compromise."