The Monkey is a film that some might easily write off as a slump post-Longlegs but it’s the film equivalent of taking photos with friends and someone says “now let’s do a silly one”. It’s a film about embracing life and accepting death. Some events are out of our control and sometimes it is best to sit back and enjoy the ride.

When director Osgood Perkins unleashed Longlegs on an unsuspecting film audience last year, he made an impact on pop culture as a whole. Not only was the film scary as all hell but also had legendary marketing that prepared audiences for what they *didn’t* see. Never showing its full hand drummed up an insane amount of hype and curiosity and resulted in the film exploding at the box office… that and the movie was good as hell too.

So now less than six months later comes The Monkey, inspired by the infamous Stephen King story from the Skeleton Crew collection. Billed as a horror comedy, the film stars Theo James and Christian Covery as twins Hal and Bill in two different time periods: childhood and adulthood. The twins come across a mysterious mystical toy monkey their father owned and before they know it they begin encountering strange deaths around them when the toy plays its mysterious drum.

It’s interesting to see a horror comedy take on this material if I’m being honest. The original story from Skeleton Crew was a favorite of mine growing up in particular because of the sense of dread it created and its particularly dark ending. I can imagine it would be hard to adapt a story about a cursed toy so straight faced, so instead Perkins and co. have decided to embrace the gonzo wackiness to such a degree that I feel other King adaptations fail to capture. The closest I can think of is Maximum Overdrive, a film that was made during King’s peak cocaine era. If I could describe the feeling The Monkey evokes it’s like if Final Destination decided to lean fully into the humorous deaths (the tanning beds cut to funeral from Final Destination 3 immediately springs to mind).

This is undoubtedly Perkins’ most fun film and proves that the filmmaker is capable of more than just curse inducing nightmare making cinema. The sense of humor and awe that comes across in scenes of violent gore are a sight to behold and it was difficult to wipe the grin from my face. Deaths that really push the MPAA rating (people are straight up reduced to hamburger meat in this). Your mileage may vary but with my personal macabre sense of humor, I had a ball from start to finish. It’s gory, it’s silly, it’s not to be taken seriously. This movie hit all the checkboxes in what I look for in a good time at the cinema and I love it for that. 

The element that brings it all together though is the acting. In particular praise needs to be given to James’ performance as Hal and Bill in adulthood that sees him playing one meek and scared and the other as one of the most unhinged characters in horror cinema that I’ve seen recently. I’ve never been moved by his acting in previous films but in The Monkey he’s so game for this over the top (sometimes obnoxious) script that I can’t help but walk away impressed. One of the twins has an outfit so hilarious I can’t help but think of it as instantly iconic.

The show stealer for me though is Tatiana Maslany as Hal and Bill’s mother. The emotional core of the film. The Monkey at times deals with very real themes like facing the inevitable death of loved ones and everyone around you and her character in particular brings up a lot of these topics. Her execution is humorous and deadpan but at the same time feels oddly comforting. A warm blanket in a sea of dread. There’s something to be said about how much her character makes an impact with so little screen time. She’s by far the best performance in the film.

The Monkey visually is a feast. Borrowing the muted visual tones and hypnotic cinematography style of Longlegs, it is impressive to see it applied in a film with such different context and tone. The Monkey never feels disconnected from our world but instead feels like a reflection of it through memories we once had. Nostalgia without reliance on references and evoking the feeling of looking through old photographs. It was my favorite element of Longlegs and it remains my favorite element in The Monkey.

The Monkey is the first truly great horror film of 2025. A film that had me wheezing with laughter one moment and wincing at a viscera filled sleeping bag the next. A film that gave me memories of watching Scary Movie or Maximum Overdrive for the first time but also gave me comfort in the idea of the inevitability of death. Perkins once again proves why he’s not only one of the best horror directors working today but one of the best modern directors period. The Monkey might be my favorite Stephen King adaptation and that is not something I ever expected to say. The Monkey is a film that some might easily write off as a slump post-Longlegs but it’s the film equivalent of taking photos with friends and someone says “now let’s do a silly one”. It’s a film about embracing life and accepting death. Some events are out of our control and sometimes it is best to sit back and enjoy the ride.

God is indeed bowling strikes tonight.

Grade: A

Oscar Prospects:
Likely: None
Should be Considered: Best Supporting Actress (Tatiana Maslany)

Where to Watch: In Theaters