Starring: Theo James, Tatiana Muslany, Christian Convery
Distributor: Madman films
Runtime: 98 mins. Reviewed in Mar 2025
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
| 
| 
When twin brothers Bill and Hal find their father’s old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths start.
From a short story by Stephen King, which is a strong credential in itself. And the film has been written and directed by Perkins who achieved strong response to his 2024 horror-thriller, Longlegs.
King has been writing novels and short stories for more than 50 years, with more than 50 adaptations of novels and short stories for the big screen and for television – the film starting in 1976 with the shocks in Carrie. So, especially for Stephen King completists, The Monkey goes on the list of films to be seen.
While King’s stories have an underlying base of realism, especially in his treatment of family relationships, there is also the move to an atmosphere beyond realism, in the world of the physical, in the world of the psychic, in the realms of: what if . . .?
This is definitely the case with The Monkey. On one hand, it is the story of twin brothers, an absent father, a mother trying to raise her children, the decision to search through the absent father’s possessions and the finding of a toy monkey with huge staring eyes. A find that results in murderous consequences.
This is very much Stephen King material. Ordinary audiences can appreciate the story of the two brothers and their eventual antagonism and confrontation. But, this is also Stephen King horror territory, and there are numerous deaths, targets of the murderous monkey. And, visually and thematically, they are grisly and gory.
It should be noted that the writer-director, Perkins (son of Psycho’s Anthony Perkins), has noted that the deaths are macabre and full of black-humour. Nobody could complain that in watching the film it reminded them in any way of their relatives’ or friends’ death. (And, there is an extraordinary last 10 seconds of the film, surprise and some shocking deaths.)
British actor, James, takes on the role of the adult twins and effectively makes them different. In fact, a lot of the drama and confrontation depends on this effectiveness. And for those who note names in casts, Adam Scott appears only in the prologue to the film, which sets the tone as he tries to sell the monkey to a dealer with shock results. Elijah Wood has only a few, quite telling minutes, as a self-important family and marriage guru.
It seems that Stephen King has approved of this version of his story and so it will take his place in all the analyses of his films. In the meantime, his fans will want to see it.
12 Random Films…
