The Monkey

Watch: The Monkey

2/21/20251h 37m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Everybody dies. And that's fucked up. ~

Overview:

When twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear their family apart. Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree forcing the estranged brothers to confront the cursed toy.

Director:

Osgood Perkins

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$10,000,000.00

Revenue:

$68,869,853.00

Key words:

sibling relationship
shotgun
supernatural
drums
harpoon
dark comedy
gore
twin brother
maine
decapitation
accidental death
wasp
monkey
exploding body
death
evil
evil twin
based on short story
dual role
cursed
1990s
father son relationship
mother son relationship
brother brother relationship
toy monkey
supernatural horror
toy
cursed object
horror
disgusted
japanese restaurant
father son estrangement
black comedy

Cast

Theo James

~ as ~

Hal / Bill

Tatiana Maslany

~ as ~

Lois

Christian Convery

~ as ~

Young Hal / Young Bill

Colin O'Brien

~ as ~

Petey

Adam Scott

~ as ~

Captain Petey Shelborn

Elijah Wood

~ as ~

Ted

Rohan Campbell

~ as ~

Thrasher / Ricky

Sarah Levy

~ as ~

Aunt Ida

Osgood Perkins

~ as ~

Uncle Chip

Nicco Del Rio

~ as ~

Rookie Priest

View full cast & crew

Reviews (3)

r96sk
Written 4 month(s) ago
7
'The Monkey' has a great concept and I enjoyed the wacky nature of it, I did almost lose interest in the human characters towards the end though. That isn't the best sign given the short 90 minute run time, but the end does come when desired so that saves it.

Theo James is pretty good in this, for sure the most I've liked seeing him. I haven't seen him act much (five films now), my main thought of him is actually with human excrement up his nose (yep) in 'The Inbetweeners Movie'... hopefully this performance will override that memory (it won't).

The gore shown for all the titular character's escapades is very cool and rather creative to be honest, the 'freak accident' angle is a fun one to watch play out onscreen. Everything with the red-eyed fellow is definitely what makes this movie, as it ought to really. A stronger overall story and I probably would've loved it.
MS
Manuel São Bento
Written 4 month(s) ago
4
FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://movieswetextedabout.com/the-monkey-review-a-chaotic-blend-of-tones-and-genres-that-misses-the-mark/

"The Monkey teeters between ingenuity and frustration. Osgood Perkins crafts moments of inspiration and gets the best out of a solid cast, but the lack of a cohesive identity prevents its erratic blend of tones and genres from reaching its true potential.

For some, this chaotic, blood-soaked mix of horror, satire, family drama, and comedy will feel refreshing and daring; for others, it will be simply exasperating and disorienting.

Personally, it didn't work... at all."

Rating: C-
CinemaSerf
Written 4 month(s) ago
6
This takes for ever to get going and once it does, it’s really an unoriginal semi-comedic horror drama centred around yet another not-so-menacing puppet. This time, it’s squabbling brothers “Hal” and “Bill” who discover an old hat box after their father dies and in it is what looks like a toy monkey. They wind it up and next thing, their babysitter is no more and that’s the just the start of it’s malevolence. Putting two and two together, they decide it’s best to drop the thing down a well and get on with growing up. Scoot on years later and now “Hal” (Theo James) has a son of his own “Petey” (Colin O’Brien) and is trying to rebuild some bridges with him after his marriage collapsed. Equally estranged is his twin, so he’s not impressed when, out of the blue, he is called and told their aunt has died. He now has to drag the reluctant lad along to the home they grew up in and guess what is in the wardrobe? At times it’s quite funny, but I’m not sure how intentional that is as James delivers a seriously flat performance and the epitome of sibling rivalries involves a frankly risible degree of menace. It’s not that the idea is rubbish, though it is derivative, it’s that the acting and writing are poor and the scenarios - familial discord, new stepdad (Elijah Wood) etc. are all just too predictable and it provides virtually nothing new over a lacklustre one hundred minutes. I could certainly think of a few good uses for the chimp, though!