The Monkey Spoiler Free Review

 The Monkey

Genre: Horror comedy

Director: Osgood Perkins

Released: 2025



     Whether or not you enjoy The Monkey will be almost entirely determined by whether or not you're the target audience. That sounds obvious, I know, but trust me, The Monkey is a film that has been meticulously calibrated to appeal to a very particular kind of viewer. It sets out to kill weirdo redshirts in creative, graphically violent ways and complement all the blood and guts with a twisted, absurdist sense of humor. If that's up your alley, you'll be eating well. If not, look elsewhere, there is literally nothing here for you.

     The Monkey is based on a short story by Stephen King, by which I mean both stories have a few character names in common and both concern an evil monkey toy. If you've read the short story, as I have, you'll be familiar with the conceit, but pretty much everything else will be new.

     After an extended setup (twin brothers discover monkey toy, every time monkey toy bangs its drum someone meets a bizarre and gory end, brothers try to get rid of the monkey and become estranged until its reemergence, see how quick I made that?), the movie transitions into a series of Final Destination-style Rube Goldberg machine deaths strung on a thread of family drama. 

     What can I say about all this? Our main character, Hal, is a divorced dad who wants to do right by the son he barely knows, and maybe reconnect with his hostile brother, how that all plays out you could likely predict with pinpoint accuracy.

     That the movie is not really interested in constructing compelling inter-character drama is not a secret, though, its raison d'etre was always those splashy kills. Again, that might work for you; for me I found the flat characters to be frustrating, especially because there is potential for something more emotionally resonant. An early mistake by Hal could have been the perfect setup for a meaningful, moving character arc, but the movie glides happily by that missed opportunity on its way to the fake blood closet for another gallon or sixty. I know the movie is singular in its focus, but in these cases I always ask: wouldn't it be even better to have your insane gore and a good story? Would the movie somehow suffer if it was compelling as well as nauseating? 

     The film is not interested in answering that, and the one non-bloody area where it does seem to take a slight interest is in some kind of thematic push, but this ends up being the bland, pseudo-nihilistic "life is pointless so why not enjoy it" platitude that's been in vogue lately.

     However, as with the family drama angle, the fact that this is present in the movie does not imply that any great thought has been put into it. It's just kind of . . . there. It's not dissimilar to the way your average kids' movie will toss in some lines about believing in yourself or doing the right thing, but no one would describe them as having actually engaged with the philosophy underpinning those concepts. Yes, a few characters say, "People die, and that's life" a few times, but it never rises above the level of sloganeering. 

     Finally, we come to the kills. Yes, they are plentiful, and yes, they are loud and squelchy and splattery and the bystanders are sure to be drenched in tomato sauce by the time they conclude. I find it hard to evaluate this part of the movie because I'm not a gorehound by any means. I certainly didn't find the exaggerated violence to be funny or moving or . . . or whatever people who like gore get out of gore.

     More often than not I got the sense that the kills were supposed to be more amusing than horrific, and maybe the first one was kind of, but by the eighth the schtick had become, frankly, somewhat boring. Certainly Elijah Wood's cameo was way funnier than the "shotgun" kill or the "hornet" kill. 

     Who then, should watch The Monkey? If, as you've been reading this review, you've thought to yourself what a stuck up prude I am, then you are A) hurtful, but correct, and B) likely to enjoy Osgood Perkins' latest. If you like over the top violence packaged in a slick, breezy, hour-forty movie, there's a good chance you'll find at least something to enjoy.

     If, however, you don't connect with blood and guts for their own sake, then there's really no reason for you to watch this. It's not poorly acted, nor is there much fault in the cinematography, lighting, or set design, but none of those constituent parts would likely be greater than the blood-soaked sum.



D