The Monkey

A great tagline from a movie can go a long way, as sometimes it’s the only thing you remember about a film. Great movie taglines hit differently, though—“An adventure 65 million years in the making,” “Check in. Relax. Take a shower,” and “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water”—those instantly pull you into their respective films. Of course, those are some of the best, but plenty of others make you want to see a movie just as much.

Osgood Perkins’s new film The Monkey grabbed my attention in many ways, but when you put on the poster, “Everybody dies. And that’s fucked up,” well—how many tickets do I need to buy?

Hal and Bill (Theo James) haven’t had the best luck in life, and it all traces back to something of their father’s that they found. That something is a monkey that plays a drum when you wind it up. As young boys, Hal and Bill discovered that wasn’t the only thing that happened when you turned the key. The first to go was their babysitter, but it was only after their mother, Lois (Tatiana Maslany), died that Bill started to suspect—maybe it was the monkey.

Now grown men, Bill and Hal don’t talk much, and to be honest, Hal has more pressing life issues than dealing with a brother he doesn’t really like. A lot of what Hal is going through is because of that monkey, as he tries to keep his son, Petey (Colin O’Brien), from coming to harm. But the monkey is back after a lengthy absence, and someone is turning that key like there’s no tomorrow.

Written by Perkins and adapted from Stephen King’s short story, The Monkey features plenty of elaborate deaths, but it’s also filled with slapstick. It’s chaos in its best form, and if you can get behind it and just go with it, you’re in for one of the best viewing experiences you’ll have in a theater. The story is simple, and The Monkey wrings everything out of it without holding back. Perkins steps away from his usual bleakness and injects a bit of fun in a way that only he seems to know how. He nails the mood perfectly, making The Monkey not just what we want—but what we need.

The Monkey doesn’t break new ground with its themes of trauma and the inevitability of death, but what it does do is let you find little moments of joy in its darkness. What stands out most are the grotesque, pointed deaths on display—some will shock you, while others might even make you laugh. There’s also an emotional connection to the story, illustrating how grief shapes us as we go through it.

All of this is carried by a solid cast, with Maslany standing out—delivering one of the best and most honest parent speeches I’ve heard in a movie. The Monkey is simply audacious horror-comedy, blending violence with dark humor, giving us, the audience, one hell of a time along the way.