A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Monkey” (2025).
You know that this is one that ‘serious critics’ are going to turn their noses up at (I see Kevin Maher in “The Times” gave it 2-stars. But Mark Kermode really liked it, so that’s all that matters!). But, sometimes, for every “Brutalist” you need a “Cocaine Bear“. Something mindless but also gory, hilarious and entertaining for a Saturday night movie with a big bucket of popcorn!
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
“The Monkey” Plot Summary:
Hal (Christian Convery) and his bullying twin-brother Bill (also Convery) find an old wind-up drumming monkey in their absent father’s closet. The box reads “Like Life”. Every time the monkey gets wound up and plays its jaunty tune (“Oh I do like to be beside the seaside”), someone dies… horribly.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC web site: “Strong horror, gore, violence, language”. )
Talent:
Starring: Theo James, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Rohan Campbell, Sarah Levy, Osgood Perkins, Danica Dreyer, Zia Newton.
Directed by: Osgood Perkins.
Written by: Osgood Perkins. (Based on a short story by Stephen King.)
Running Time: 1h 38m.
“The Monkey” Summary:
Positives:
- A really fun popcorn movie experience
- Lots of ridiculously gory kills, largely done for laughs.
- Surpassed the 6 laughs test for me.
Negatives:
- Some elements of the film just logically don’t work.
- An attempt to get a bit more serious, with a “Home Alone” style segment, worked less well.
- Highly unconvincing communications between Theo James and Theo James!
- OH NO! …. he’s the ‘smug git’ in the Range Rover!
Review of “The Monkey”:
“Final Destination” meets “Cocaine Bear”.
There is nothing remotely subtle about this film. Its goal is to line up kill after kill after kill and the only question you have to ask is how ridiculous is the next one going to me. In that sense, it reminded me of the likes of the “Final Destination” and “Piranha” films. But whereas some of those films were not funny enough, “The Monkey”, for me, hit just the right note. In terms of its gruesome comedy. It reminded me of the riotous time that a bunch of my family went to see “Cocaine Bear” and giggled and hooted our way through the resulting mayhem: a memorable popcorn experience. I saw this one on my own: but I reckon seeing this with a packed audience on a Saturday night would be an equally fun time.
Clever effects and editing.
Osgood Perkins delivered last year’s “Longlegs“, a film that I didn’t think merited the acclaim that many were giving it but which, I will admit, was cleverly shot. Perkins brings some of that technique to this film with good effect. There are some really good practical effects, some creepily close-up and oddly angled shots of the monkey and some clever, sharp edits that provoke a laugh. For example, the monkey’s drumstick falls and we immediately cut to the funeral portrait of Uncle Chip (played by Perkins himself). Very funny.
Many of the kills can be seen coming a mile off, but that just increases the level of anticipation. But I enjoyed the fact that Perkins often throws in an extra unexpected step that manages to surprise you: for example, the aftermath of the film’s opening kill, after a storekeeper gets harpooned; and the coup de grace for Aunt Ida (Sarah Levy), who really should have seen the signs coming!
But some elements don’t work.
I really loved the first half of the film. But some aspects in the back half didn’t work for me.
- There is an obvious logic bypass behind how the monkey can be chopped into many pieces and reonstitute itself…. and yet, put it in a cardboard box at the bottom of a well and it is stuck for 25 years… except in fact it’s not!!;
- One of the kills is Hal’s work colleague Dwayne (Zia Newton)…. but he’s never crossed paths with the monkey and is even in a completely different city from Hal at the time!
- A kill involving bees is just plain silly.
In particular, there’s a section at Bill’s house that goes rather down the “Home Alone” route that seems to be trying to be more horror than comedy/horror and just didn’t work for me.
Theo James, Theo James and Elijah Wood!
It’s fun to see Elijah Wood on the big screen again in a major film: he doesn’t seem to have had many meaty roles of late. And this really isn’t one of them either, since he gets little more than a cameo as Ted, the religious leader and proposed legal father for Hal’s son Petey (Colin O’Brien). Sadly, it’s not a very well-written scene. And I found it just plain annoying that the slimy and unpleasant Ted fails to receive any monkey-fuelled-cumuppence.
Theo James is generally fine in the dual role of Hal and Bill, up until the point where the brothers meet and start conversing. Given how discussions between actors are shot and edited, it really shouldn’t make any difference. But for some reason, the dialogue feels incredibly stilted and false.
Elsewhere, Tatiana Maslany is good as the twin’s mother Lois. A scene in a graveyard where she morbidly talks about the randomness of death is one of the film’s high points. (This was an interesting piece of writing by Oz Perkins, given that he lost his father (Anthony Perkins) at an early age to AIDS and his mother (actress Berry Berenson) on AA Flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Centre towers on September 11th. He certainly has something to say about early, random deaths.)
A fun ending.
Even though the film rather lost its way for me in the middle, it picked up at the end giving us – drumroll please – a comic local Armagedden that I really didn’t see coming. (Cue a pale rider!) And – although a bunch of cheerleaders dancing through a murder scene mid-film seemed incredibly random – the final shot of the film I found insanely funny.
The git!
I love Everyman cinemas. I really do. The seats are fantastically comfy and they bring delicious food and drink to your seat, with great customer service. The one thing that gets my goat is that they have an advertising relationship with Range Rover and insist on showing this hyper annoying advert before every single film I see. (And I see a lot!) A smug rich white git drives around his country estate in his swanky car past his hot, white, horseriding neighbour (who probably wants to f*** him, because of his swanky car), then past his swanky alpacas, through his swanky giant chess board to his enormously swanky mansion where his swanky, white, hot-wife is waiting for him. Just to return the lost ball to his swanky great dane (who doesn’t want it anyway). I HATE IT and would never buy a Range Rover because of it. It’s got to the point where whenever the ad starts I mutter “smug git” under my breath (and sometimes less under my breath).
Anyhoo, the reason for this rant is that I suddenly realised with horror that Theo James WAS the smug git! I was tempted to take another half star away!
Monkeys?
The question I KNOW you want to know… is there a “monkey” at the end of “The Monkey”??! The answer is yes… and no. There is something at the end of the end titles, but it is not related to this film at all: it is a brief teaser-trailer for an upcoming Oz Perkins film called “Keeper”.
Summary Thoughts on “The Monkey”
All in all, I had a fun time with this one in the cinema. It’s not high art. But it is a fun popcorn watch.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “The Monkey”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=husMGbXEIho. (Note that this is the red band trailer, so expect violent scenes!)
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