- Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Convery
- February 21st 2025
- 98
- Oz Perkins
Theo James plays twins who are bestowed a cursed drum-banging toy monkey that changes their lives forever.
Osgood Perkins enjoyed a successful 2024 with his smash hit horror Longlegs and he’s already back with something quite different – The Monkey.
His new horror-comedy, which is based on a short story by Stephen King, follows the twins Hal and Bill (Christian Convery and then Theo James) after they find a cursed drum-banging monkey toy with their father’s belongings.
They soon discover that a person dies nearby whenever the monkey bangs its drum. After the bodies begin to pile up, Hal tries everything to destroy the monkey or keep it away from human harm forever – but the creepy toy always manages to make its way back.
If you’re expecting a film as sombre and serious as Longlegs, you’ll be very much mistaken. The Monkey has a completely different vibe and is a good showcase for Perkins’s versatility.
Perkins is fully aware that the concept of The Monkey is silly and he leans into that, making an extremely gory yet absurd film with a light-hearted tongue-in-cheek tone.
While this self-awareness might work for some viewers, others may find it wears thin after a while. The gimmick runs out of steam – perhaps why King only wrote a short story – and becomes less engaging, despite the gruesome carnage.
Also, there is no denying the fact that this is very similar to the Final Destination franchise in that people are killed in freak accidents involving household and garden equipment. You know the person is going to die, but you’re not sure in what brutal and bloody way.
Looking at the positives, both Convery and James do very well convincingly playing two different twins, often within the same scene. Tatiana Maslany is also wonderfully dark as their oddball mother and Adam Scott, Elijah Wood and Perkins himself pop up in small but hilarious roles.
The Monkey is a horror-comedy that is neither scary nor consistently funny, meaning it fails to deliver on both fronts. However, if you’re in the mood for slapstick gore, this may be up your street.
In cinemas from Friday 21st February.
By Hannah Wales.
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