The Monkey
Written for the Screen and Directed by Osgood Perkins
Based on a Short Story by Stephen King
Cast: Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Christian Convery, Colin O’Brien, Elijah Wood
*** out of ****
March 14, 2025
“The Monkey” is the latest film in a growing succession of films about killer toys, which is even literally suggested by the title. The toy, a drumming circus monkey, joins the likes of Chucky, M3gan, and Annabelle in its quest for the human soul. Unlike those prior iterations, it doesn’t literally do the killing but has a supernatural connection with those who come into contact with it. If you turn the key you’re safe from harm but become permanently attached to it. Everyone else, beware.
The film begins with an airline pilot (Adam Scott) who tries to get rid of the monkey in a pawn shop only to have the toy claim its first of many victims throughout this story. Immediately, thereafter, he is out of the picture and the monkey mysteriously ends up in the possession of his remaining family including mother Lois (Tatiana Maslany) who now has to raise their twin sons Hal and Bill (both played as a child by Christian Convery) alone. The two boys discover the toy in their father’s closet in a box that ironically reads “Like Life”. Soon Bill turns the key and nothing happens at first. But the monkey eventually plays its seemingly harmless tune and then… death.
Twenty Five years later, we catch up with Hal (Theo James) who is now estranged from Bill who he hasn’t seen in ten years. He is also a divorced father who has grown ever more distant from his son Petey (Colin O’Brien) whom he only sees once a year. The paranoia he feels about his attachment to the monkey is what keeps him away from his son. The monkey is purchased in an estate sale and ends up back in Bill’s (also played by James) possession. Havoc continues to ensue as Hal and Petey are on the road together in an effort to reclaim and try to destroy the plaything before more harm comes to others.
This film is Directed with Mordant Humor and wacky zeal by Osgood Perkins who had a sleeper hit last summer with “Long Legs”. His approach to the characters is have them all come with feeling of detachment and aggression and aggressions. There bullies, idiots, absent fathers, condescending antagonizers, and clueless ninnies. It sounds like the least appealing lot imaginable but almost all of these people are purposely set up for the surprising, sudden, over-the-top, and hilarious deaths that follow. To a certain extant it’s almost like watching an episode of “Beavis and Butthead” where everybody is portrayed negatively until irony steps and provides the punchline.
I found myself laughing often at the same time as feeling shocked. That’s the kind of impact you get from watching the people get killed in this movie. It’s sick, twisted and perversely humorous with director and at least most of his cast in on the joke. Their behavior is often funny, too. For instance, when Hal is just basically talking about life with his manager, the boss responds repeatedly with, “Shit, man, that sucks” in a deadpan sort of way. He’s just a twenty-something with no real life experience and that’s his response to every real life situation that Hal mentions to him. When Hal goes to see his son at his stepfather’s house, his stepfather is a charismatic preacher who gleefully claims the Holy Spirit transferred Hal’s parenting energy to him because they held hands.
The Monkey itself is a pretty sinister presence with its wide grin and creepy stare. It seems oddly set in its own ways as an unstoppable force of evil. Torch it with flamethrower or chop it to pieces? It’ll only reform. Throw it down a well or hide in the closet in the basement and it will teleport back into your presence to carry out its evil intent. Whenever it plays its spirited tune someone will die at random and no one will be able to predict how or when it occurs. The film achieves some pretty incredible and unforgettably gruesome scenes with its many victims.
If the film has any fault it can be found in the performance(s) of Theo James who plays Hal and Bill as adults. James is Australian and had to play both roles with an American accent. While he did get the accent right, everything else he seems to have forgotten about. There’s barely a change in his facial expression and he plays both characters on the same note so that there’s no contrast in the portrayals. There isn’t the smallest difference in his characterizations and that’s a shame because he’s the lead. By comparison, Christian Convery, who plays both characters as children acts circles around him.
“The Monkey”, is funny, devious, and extremely effective in spots even if it’s not totally convincing all the time.
