Movie Review - The Monkey

Director: Osgood Perkins
Genre: Horror
Runtime: 98 minutes
Year: 2025
Starring: Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Adam Scott, Elijah Wood, Sarah Levy, Colin O’Brien
 
Description: When twin brothers Bill and Hal (Theo James) find their father’s old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths starts. The siblings decide to throw the toy away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years.
 
Review: As a child, Hal finds a toy money with a drum. He winds it up and shortly afterwards someone dies. He quickly realizes that there is a connection, but even if he wanted to, he cannot control it; the monkey decides who dies. Together with his twin brother Bill, he throws the thing away. Years later, Hal is now an adult, and mysterious deaths occur again in his hometown.

The opening scene, starring Adam Scott, shows u exactly what the tone of the film is. A comedic horror film. And the start of the film, when Hal and Bill were just kids, is the strongest. The first half hour maintains an excellent balance between suspense and humor.

“The Monkey” is based on a short story by Stephen King from 1980, but is reminiscent of the movie “Final Destination”. Death is inevitable and always very bloody.

After a strong first act, the film shifts to the present. Hal and twin brother Bill are portrayed by Theo James. He is fine, not always credible, but okay. And the film goes downhill here. The humor largely disappears, and in the absence of the monkey, the tension comes mainly from the forced dream sequences.

Director and screenwriter Osgood Perkins made “Longlegs” in 2024, which was one of the better horror films I had seen in a long time. “The Monkey” is more mainstream, but not really that good.
Even though the film had a very strong start, “The Monkey” doesn’t deliver in the end.

Rating: 2,5/ 5