A quirky combination of love, tears, death and comedy, Max and Mona presents South African contemporary life through the droll and eventful journeys of Max Bua, a 19-year-old village bumpkin who has an extraordinary talent for crying at funerals and is held in high esteem by the village community. However, Max has plans for his future, and decides to go to Johannesburg to study to become a doctor. On his departure the community organises a farewell party for him and he is given a sacrificial goat named Mona to deliver to a wedding in Yeoville, a sleazy suburb in Johannesburg.

On arriving in Johannesburg with his ever bleating goat, Max bumps into sexy Nozipho who finds Max's innocence appealing. Instead of dropping off the goat as planned Max finds himself entangled in a police drug bust and misses the deadline to pay for his tuition fees. Stranded, Max turns to the only person he knows in town, his Uncle Norman. Norman is heavily in debt to a local gangster and uses Max's tuition fees to save his neck. Without money, Max's only hope is to fall back on his talent as a professional mourner at township funerals.