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R
for strong bloody violent content, gore, language throughout and some sexual references.
Starring
Theo James, Elijah Wood, Tatiana Maslany, Christian Convery, Colin O'Brien
Director
Osgood Perkins
Producer
James Wan, Michael Clear, Jaso
Genres
Horror
Comedy
Released by
Neon on
2/21/2025
Nationwide
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Trailer
Review
The Monkey is in possession of a great trailer that the actual film doesn't quite live up to. Nevertheless, Osgood Perkins' radical reimagining of the Stephen King short story is plenty entertaining in its own right for those with a sufficiently warped sense of humor and a love of the grand guignol. The film has a delicious fetish for different forms of violent death and works well as a catalog of offbeat ways to deliver servings of blood and viscera to the audience. Perkins uses King's work to provide the bones of his narrative but his tongue-in-cheek screenplay is darker than anything the Master of Horror put on paper.
Straight horror has lost some of its luster in recent years with many filmmakers opting to infuse their movies with dark humor, irony, and/or meta elements. As a follow-up to Longlegs, The Monkey sees Perkins trading in existential obtuseness for a more comedic take on the genre. The production is rarely (if ever) frightening and the lack of jump-scares is notable, but it is quite often funny.
Following a brief prologue set in 1999, the movie jumps ahead several years to follow the lives of twin brothers Hal and Bill (both played by Christian Convery). Hal is the "good" kid and Will is the bad egg - a bully and all-around-nasty piece of work. Their mother, Lois (Tatiana Maslany), does the best she can for her sons but, without a husband (who has a brief appearance in the prologue, where he's played by Adam Scott), it's an uphill climb. One day, while rifling through their father's packed-up belongings, the boys discover a strange toy: a monkey drummer with a wind-up key. They soon learn that there's a connection between the monkey's drum-playing and a few bizarre accidental deaths. The boys make the connection but perhaps not quickly enough.
25 years later, Hal (Theo James), estranged from his brother, leads a solitary life, not wanting to put any friends or family at risk from the "curse" that seems to follow him. He sees his son, Petey (Colin O'Brien), only once a year and, during one of those visits, he receives a phone call from Bill. It seems their Aunt Ida (Sarah Levy) has died in a strange fashion. Bill believes the monkey may have resurfaced and he convinces Hal to go to Ida's house to see if he can locate the toy. Petey, making a case for more father/son bonding time, convinces his dad to bring him along.
It might be fun to put together a list of the various ways in which Perkins eliminates characters. No one dies in a seemingly simple or straightforward manner. One character is trampled in a horse stampede (with his remains looking like something that might appeal to Agent Cooper), another explodes after being electrocuted, one gets decapitated while watching the show at a Teppanyaki restaurant, another has an unfortunate encounter with a bunch of angry hornets, and still another discovers the dangers of real estate signs on a front lawn. And that's all before the meteor storm.
The characters are thinly-drawn although the viewer is apt to develop an affinity for Hal, simply because he survives repeated humiliations and keeps going. Still, the movie isn't about character development, relationship building, or even the theme of "everyone dies, it's just a matter of when." No, this is all about whether a character's death is sufficiently interesting to warrant exposure to what one assumes will be a jaded audience. (There's a built-in expectation that viewers of The Monkey will not be Hallmark Channel devotees.)
Of the five films he has made, The Monkey represents Perkins' most accessible, primarily because it subverts it murderous elements with a dollop of dark humor. That ultimately proves to be a better match for the director than his previous focus on style and atmosphere. And, although he changes a lot from King's story, the essential horror elements remain, playing on the universal fear of a child's toy being an instrument of death. The movie isn't quite as unhinged as the trailer indicates but it's far enough off the beaten path to provide enjoyment for those who enjoy their blood & guts served with a twist.
© 2025 James Berardinelli
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