*content warning: discussions of violence, death, and gore*
“The Monkey” is a film that shouldn’t be taken seriously because the film doesn’t even take itself seriously. The film was directed and written by Osgood Perkins, fresh off his last hit film “Longlegs” in 2024. While “Longlegs” was more of a dark and serious film with certain humorous scenes, “The Monkey” is the complete opposite. This is a dark comedy; from beginning to end, it beats the audience over the head to remind them that “The Monkey” shouldn’t be taken seriously. Its humor and kills don’t always land, but it does offer at least an engaging and somewhat entertaining viewing experience.
“The Monkey” has violent scenes, but it has fun with the kills. The plot involves a toy monkey that has mysteriously reappeared and comes back to haunt the main character Hal (Theo James) by killing someone at random in a gruesome way. This is where the dark humor comes in.
At the start of the film, the humor works. It’s not the greatest, but it’ll get some chuckles from the audience. Around the film’s halfway mark it gets old and the humor gets in the way of the story. In one of the first kills in the film, a lady gets blown to pieces by a shotgun blast and this results in the main character being covered in blood. Afterward, Hal makes a joke that “everything is fine,” when in reality it’s not. The humor in this scene didn’t work because the scene went on too long.
While the marketing of this film is primarily focused on death and dark humor, it tries to bring some family drama into the mix to make the audience care about the characters. One of the subplots in the film is that Hal has a son, Pete, who Hal disconnected from and only sees once in a while – because Hal is worried that the monkey will eventually kill him. The film tries to have scenes of deep emotion, but it gets ruined and interrupted by a random death to catch the audience off guard.
At its core, “The Monkey” has a message that the audience can leave the theater thinking of. It’s that death is something that can’t be controlled and happens to people randomly at some point in life. However, because of the film’s mockery of death, the film presents mixed messages.
As a Stephen King adaptation, Perkins took the directorial control to have it deviate from many of the past adaptations of King’s work. In interviews, Perkins vocalized wanting to focus on creating a fun portrayal, rather than just sticking to horror.
The pacing in “The Monkey” is a mixed bag. In the first thirty minutes, the audience will be hooked and understand what type of film this is. However, as the film continues, it loses its appeal and feels like a chore to sit through.
This was the same problem that Osgood Perkins had in his last film “Longlegs.” Despite being praised by horror films for its interesting premise, this film failed to follow up on what was promised. While it’s unfair to compare both films since “Longlegs” takes itself seriously and “The Monkey” doesn’t, it’s interesting to see how these two films are both similar and yet so different.
Verdict: “The Monkey” will entertain an audience, and it has a great mix of practical and visual effects. However, its humor doesn’t always work, and the pacing ruins the film.
