Last year, Osgood Perkins set the horror sphere ablaze with his bleak and disturbing Longlegs. In 2025, he returns with a vengeance, albeit accompanied by a massive tonal shift. Enter: The Monkey, a horror/comedy hybrid from NEON featuring a plethora of outlandishly creative kills and a killer hook that makes it insanely rewatchable. Who could say no to a double dose of Theo James? While dual roles seem to be major in 2025—see Twinless, Sinners, Mickey 17, or Alto Knights—James playing two drastically different twins may be the most entertaining of the bunch. Coming to 4K and Blu-Ray, the film delivers crisp visuals and immaculate sound design fresh from the aisles of a movie theater. Fueled by a cartoonish tone, gallows humor, and sharp direction from Perkins, The Monkey reminds us that everybody dies… albeit, here, death comes at the mercy of a demented sentient toy monkey.
For the first act of The Monkey, a zippy narration from twin Hal (James, Divergent, The White Lotus) recaps his tumultuous upbringing and, by extension, the “secret horror” passed from father to son. During this 1999-set section, Christian Convery (Cocaine Bear, Barron’s Cove) plays both Hal and Bill. The two could not be more different: Hal is the sweet and sensitive type, whilst Bill could lovingly be described as an incessant bully. An opening scene gives a glimpse at how their father (Adam Scott, Severance, Krampus) tried to rid himself of the titular animal, resulting in the first freak accident we get to see play out on screen. A trip to a pawn shop ends in a harpoon-gutting horror. Perkins avoids showing too much, instead letting us get time with Hal and Bill in their natural habitat. Young Convery expertly switches between extremes, depicting the passionate fury of sibling rivalry gone sour. The bullying only compounds after Hal and Bill discover an artifact deep in their father’s closet. Simply dubbed an “organ grinder monkey,” winding it up may be a serious mistake. After all, it claims to be “like life.”
Exactly how the monkey works is relatively straightforward. After turning its key and winding it up, the monkey’s drumsticks whir and twist before stopping completely. Then, it lies in wait with its drumsticks raised. Only when drumming out a carnival tune does the crescendo result in a savage murder. In Stephen King’s short story on which the movie is based, the monkey bangs cymbals. For the movie, due to copyright issues, their iteration of the monkey uses drums instead. Both more or less have the same creepy look to them; in a way, the tense beating of the drum adds another layer. Perkins often photographs this monkey in garish closeups, especially when the banging occurs. It even gets to appear in a larger, arguably creepier form in some of the nightmares that later plague older Hal, and even as a stripper that older Bill sees.
Their mother, Lois (Tatyana Maslany, Orphan Black, She-Hulk: Attorney At Law), does not mince words with them when it comes to death. When the monkey claims its first victim, their babysitter, she reminds her young children that everyone dies, some more violently than others. We will all be dead someday. For the babysitter, it was a particularly brutal death. Somehow, an inexperienced hibachi chef slices her head clean off, where it splatters right onto the hibachi grill. Most of the film’s deaths are preposterous in this way, embracing the ridiculousness and being grounded in only a shred of reality. Each feels unique and off-kilter. In one of the more hilarious scenes, Perkins makes a cameo as Uncle Chip. To call his death morbidly funny would be an understatement, considering he gets trampled to death by horses in a sleeping bag, and his remains are compared to a smushed cherry pie. Another notable kill near the climax, and probably my personal favorite, involves a large hornet’s nest.
As a trail of unexplainable deaths follows the two kids, they dump the monkey together in a well, hopeful never to be plagued by its curse again. 25 years later, the money emerges with a vengeance. Hal, now secluded from his family and with no friends, works at a supermarket trying to keep to himself. He does have a kid named Petey (Colin O’Brien, Wonka, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone), who is just beginning to be smart enough to notice his dad only sees him once a year. The bond between father and son helps to carry over themes from the past. As with his father before him, Hal is fearful of passing on the family curse. When the murders start up again in Casco, Maine, estranged mullet-sporting brother Bill reaches out to Hal. He urges Hal to head back to their aunt’s estate to find the monkey before he causes any more damage. In the wrong hands, the monkey could cause a path of chaos and destruction. Shaggy-haired Ricky (Rohan Campbell, The Hardy Boys, Halloween Ends) gets to the monkey first, contemplating selling the thing to a mysterious buyer known only as Mrs. Monkey.
A winning combination of horror titans Perkins and King should raise eyebrows even before the pedigree of the ensemble cast. Maslany does wonders with a limited screentime, and when his oddball character comes out to play in the climax, Campbell is truly unhinged. Elijah Wood shows up in a small role as an annoying author trying to legally adopt Petey. Obviously, it’s James that gets to do the most compelling work. When his twins meet in the finale, true movie magic is born. Convery acts the hell out of his yin and yang personas, every bit believable as the younger counterparts to these crazy twins. The unique aspect of the tonal shifts just somehow works. Instead of making for some terrifying nail-biter, an atmosphere is established where quite literally anything goes. Comically over-the-top deaths keep occurring up until the very last frame, when a group of cheerleaders on a bus gets absolutely decimated by a truck. Even Death himself, the Grim Reaper, makes an appearance near the end. The kitchen sink approach marks a clever juxtaposition with the grounded character interplay. Even in its exaggerated form, The Monkey is pure undiluted Osgood Perkins insanity.
Kudos to NEON, who make the sadistic loop of a monkey drumming into the sole Blu-Ray menu navigation imagery. Knowing a bit about the test screenings and treatment of Rohan Campbell’s character—who was strangely absent from any advertising materials—I was hoping for a little insight that we do not receive. A commentary track from Perkins would also have been welcome. Though we are sadly robbed of any deleted scenes, we do get treated to a handful of notable special features. Three featurettes highlight the excellent ensemble cast, and finding the humor in the darkest of places. A brief behind the scenes segment showcasing the way they filmed the hornet death was my personal favorite touch. They also have the announcement teaser and the trailers on the disc, as well as a silly “Funeral Gallery” that has funerary cards for Lois, Chip, and Annie to read in full.
As an acting masterclass for Theo James and a beautifully-filmed horror comedy, The Monkey can do no wrong. Though its absurdist comedy tone will definitely not be to everyone’s taste, those who find themselves on the right wavelength will connect to its not-so-subtle commentary about refusing to live our lives in fear of death. Whatever James and Perkins do next, I will be there as their biggest cheerleader. Just hopefully, my fate is less grim than that bus of cheerleaders.
Beware of The Monkey and its twisted curse, now on 4K and Blu-Ray from NEON.
Great movie and great review !