Osgood Perkins, who brought us last year’s unexpected little horror gem Longlegs, is back with an adaptation of Stephen King’s short story called The Monkey, a curious blend of absurdist humor and relentless horror.
The film opens with an ominous sense of dread, as Perkins immediately establishes his knack for creating an atmosphere that’s both suspenseful and darkly comedic.
When twin brothers Hal and Bill (both played by Christian Convery in a dual role) discover a peculiar wind-up monkey toy in their childhood home, they turn the key on the monkey’s back, which unwittingly unleashes a force of unimaginable terror. Revealed is the toy’s inexplicable connection to a string of gruesome and bizarre deaths which shatter their family, and leaves scars that linger for decades.
Fast forward twenty-five years, the now-estranged brothers live separate and uneventful lives, haunted by memories they refuse to confront. But when the cursed toy resurfaces and carnage begins anew, Hal and Bill (both played as adults by Theo James) are thrust back into a world they thought they’d left behind.
Determined to end the cycle of bloodshed, the siblings must unravel the dark origins of the monkey and come to terms with their fractured bond. The Monkey is a chilling tale of family, fate, and the cursed relic that binds them. With every twist of the monkey’s crank, the line between love and destruction tightens.
The drumming monkey, with a sinister agenda, becomes a chilling yet oddly absurd harbinger of death. The kill scenes that follow are devilishly creative—so over-the-top and macabre, your only reaction can be uneasy but out-loud laughter. These sequences are undoubtedly the highlight of the experience, showcasing Perkins’ ability to balance gallows humor with genuine frights. With a drumming toy monkey as both its eerie centerpiece and metaphorical core, the film explores such heady topics as inherited trauma, the fragility of control over life, and the ways adults weave comforting lies to shield themselves and their children from harsh truths.
Though hardly consequential in a film such as this, the cast delivers strong performances, particularly in their ability to ground the increasingly ridiculous bloodbath in some semblance of reality. The young Hal and Bill display occasional flashes of endearing connection, although their relationship is undermined by an oddly over-dramatized dynamic that sometimes feels too offbeat to fully invest in. The acting, particularly that of Tatiana Maslany (“Perry Mason”) as the boys’ mother, manages to elevate even some of the script’s weaker moments.
This leads to the film’s primary flaw—the story in between the incredibly creative kill scenes struggles to maintain momentum. When the drumming stops, so to speak, the narrative occasionally drifts into a lull. The storytelling feels a bit uneven, as if the film is unsure whether it wants to be a deeply reflective family drama or a nightmarish rollercoaster of chaos. While the thematic layers around mortality and trauma are intriguing, they’re not always integrated as organically as they could be.
Despite its narrative shortcomings, The Monkey succeeds as an audacious entry in the horror canon. Perkins proves his skill at weaving tension with a multitude of sly winks to the audience, drawing laughs and gasps in equal measure. While it may not fully land as a cohesive whole, its creative death sequences, standout performances, and thoughtful—if lightly muddled—parables about life and death make it a worthwhile watch for Stephen King enthusiasts and fans of absurdist splatter horror. Is it perfect? Not quite. But The Monkey is undeniably memorable, and sometimes, that’s more than enough.
MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 98 mins
Director: Osgood Perkins
Writer: Osgood Perkins
Cast: Theo James; Tatiana Maslany; Christian Convery
Genre: Horror | Slasher
Tagline: Everybody Dies. And that's Fucked up.
Memorable Movie Quote: "You wouldn't happen to remember if, uh, my aunt had a wind-up toy monkey at the yard sale?"
Distributor: Neon
Official Site: https://neonrated.com/films/the-monkey
Release Date: February 21, 2025
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: When twin brothers Bill and Hal find their father's old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths start. The siblings decide to throw the toy away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years.
