The Monkey (2025)

​"The Monkey" stars Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Christian Convery, Colin O'Brien, Rohan Campbell, Sarah Levy, Adam Scott, and Elijah Wood.  Released on February 21, 2025, the film has twin brothers discovering a string of deaths related to a toy monkey.

The film is written and directed by Osgood Perkins, who also directed films such as "The Blackcoat's Daughter", "Gretel & Hansel", and "Longlegs".  It is based on the 1980 short story by Stephen King.  Toy monkeys can be harmless, especially when playing their cymbals or drums.  However, their faces tell a different story, as their creepy-as-hell expressions overshadow their innocuous appeal.  Never forget the toy monkey from "Toy Story 3".  This particular monkey is no exception, but its appearance isn't the only thing we should be afraid of.  After his triumphant return with last year's "Longlegs", Osgood Perkins seeks to keep the horror streak going with not one but two projects slated to come out this year.  One is an adaptation of Stephen King's short story showcasing that death can be pretty messy, especially when caused by a seemingly innocent toy.  Was it able to provide some gory fun in its darkly bizarre concept, or are we better off throwing away this childhood toy?  Let's find out.

The story follows Hal and Bill (James), the estranged twin brothers who, during their childhood, discover their father's (Scott) vintage toy monkey in the attic.  However, they eventually realize it's not just an ordinary toy monkey.  It's equipped with a dangerous curse that brings death and misfortune to anyone whenever the toy bangs its drums, resulting in the brothers throwing it down the well.  Years later, Hal and Bill have gone their separate ways, but their tranquility doesn't last long, as the monkey returns to wreak more bloody havoc on its unsuspecting victims.  As a result, the estranged brothers reunite to confront the devilish monkey's reign of terror.

"The Monkey" immediately placed itself on my list of must-see films of 2025, mainly because of its concept and Osgood Perkins.  For those who didn't realize, "Gretel & Hansel" was my first exposure to Perkins' directorial vision.  While it provided a solid sense of atmospheric dread and slow-burn terror, it didn't do much in its storytelling to leave an everlasting impression on me.  Fortunately, last year's "Longlegs" managed to turn things around with its unnerving atmosphere and engaging cast, especially Nicolas Cage, reflecting Perkins' ability to provide grounded terror from the unknown with a slow-burn and dreary essence.  As for this film's plot, it's a Stephen King adaptation, meaning there's bound to be some freaky stuff occurring amid its metaphorically creepy narrative and imagery.  Along with one of the film's producers, James Wan, these two elements seem to be helping "The Monkey" meet people's expectations due to its early praise toward its gory set pieces and tone, establishing Perkins as another horror filmmaker who's worth our attention.  But the real question is whether I feel the same way about it.  The answer to that is I did.  It's certainly a different beast for Perkins compared to his previous two films, but the filmmaker managed to tame it with devilish gusto, resulting in one of the most fun cinematic experiences I had this year.

The crucial thing to know about "The Monkey" is that this is another film that emphasizes its gory brutalities in a darkly comical fashion, meaning anything can kill you when you least expect it.  It's like "Final Destination", but death is portrayed as a toy monkey.  So, this movie will likely depend on how well you can stomach the violence caused by this "innocent" primate.  If you're easily sensitive to gore, there's a high chance you won't survive past the first few minutes despite its 98-minute runtime.  But if you're into this stuff, I can say that you won't be disappointed with the boundaries it pushed to kill people off in disgusting ways.  In fact, you might even have as much fun with people dying as I had.  Those scenes were brutal, gross, and, most of all, delightfully bonkers.  Most horror movies tend to show off their violent sequences without much enjoyment in their build-up and payoffs.  Fortunately, "The Monkey" became an exception to this case, as it delivered the demented joy and dark humor of watching people get eliminated in grueling ways while maintaining the tension of their anticipations toward them.  I won't give away much, but there were a couple of shocking scenes that made me go "WTH", but in a humorous way.  It does have one near the end that was nearly ruined by poor CGI, but the other ones were effectively portrayed using practical effects.

Perkins' previous films, "Gretel & Hansel" and "Longlegs", solidified him as a filmmaker who gives audiences goosebumps through the artistic atmosphere and startling imagery instead of cheap jump scares and obnoxious cliches.  However, he's also known for having a slow-burn appeal in his storytelling regarding the pacing, and when combined with its lack of scares, his movies can be described by most horror fans as underwhelming or dull.  "The Monkey" does have Perkins' fingerprints on it, especially regarding the bleakly marvelous presentation and lack of jump scares.  However, it's also surprisingly well-paced regarding his handling of the concept and the editors, Greg Ng and Graham Fortin, who collaborated with Perkins on "Longlegs".  The movie is under an hour, but the pacing didn't feel like it was longer than that, as Ng and Fortin's editing skills provided a steady rhythm in its narrative flow and comical death scenes that are as well-timed as the monkey banging on its drums.  It ensured that no scene was unnecessary or boring as it focused more on giving gore fans what they desired.  It also had a compelling story to warrant the wait between the sick fatalities.  Perkins is undoubtedly a talented filmmaker in the horror genre because of his somberly captivating vision and unsettling imagery, which were masterfully captured by cinematographer Nico Aguilar.  His balance of morbid comedy and shocking violence also made "The Monkey" a hilariously twisted experience without going too far-fetched with the latter.

Now, you may think that "The Monkey" is just another horror movie with all gore and no substance.  Well, I'm here to tell you that that's not the case, as it does have a fitting and fiendishly ironic narrative to coincide with its possessed "toy".  "The Monkey" serves as a darkly comedic reflection of life, mainly with death appearing in many absurd or random places, as the twin brothers struggle with losing those around them.  The movie also focuses primarily on Hal and his estranged relationship with his son Petey (O'Brien) as he attempts to protect him from the monkey's curse.  The film may not bring in as much emotional heft in its themes as most people thought it would.  Regardless, it's still a rewarding and consistently entertaining piece of horror storytelling that brought empathy into its characters amid its grisly deaths due to Perkins' screenplay relying on genuine character moments instead of genre cliches.

Theo James leads the cast in a dual role as the twin brothers Hal and Bill, and I'm confident to say that this is his best performance(s) so far.  After appearing in the "Divergent" and "Underworld" films, James has been quite busy with his mature roles, although none of them have captured my attention compared to the IP franchises.  Thankfully, he was able to do so by pulling double duty as the estranged twins.  With Hal's timid and meek persona clashing with Bill's abusive and cold-hearted appearance, this dual performance revealed that Theo James had a surprisingly impressive range in his acting, showcasing a promising future in his career.  I would also credit Christian Convery for accomplishing that same goal as the young versions of Hal and Bill.  I'm also happy to see Tatiana Maslany getting more work after appearing in Marvel's "She-Hulk", with her performance as the twins' mother having enough appeal to warrant her brief appearance.  

Overall, "The Monkey" is a deranged, gory, and rewardingly refreshing take on the possessed toy storyline that bangs its drums with sickening gratification.  The emotional depth hidden within its themes of life may not hit all of the right beats for everyone regarding its darkly humorous tone.  However, when it comes to its twisted and violent concept and pacing, the film is undoubtedly messed up in all the right ways, but it's also the most fun and engaging movie Perkins has ever crafted in his filmography.  It doesn't match what he accomplished in "Longlegs" in terms of its unnerving dread, but it further proves that Perkins is another horror filmmaker I'll be keeping an eye on in the future.  With Theo James' sublime dual performance, Perkins' impressive direction and screenplay, effective dark humor, and satisfyingly gory kills, "The Monkey" continues the year's booming trend of indie horror with blood, guts, and a creepy-ass plastic ape.  I wouldn't recommend it to those who couldn't stomach gore, but for those who enjoy Perkins' other works, it's certainly an insane ride worth taking.

A-