In the R-rated trailer for The Monkey, there was a moment that made me laugh out loud. It was a quick blink-and-you-miss-it moment when a bowling ball falls down on a kid’s head and smashes it. I laughed a little too loud at this moment and immediately knew that this movie was going to be insane. Friends, Osgood Perkins has made a bloody movie that is a bizarre ride into gruesome-ville!
The premise of The Monkey is pretty simple: evil monkey figurine brings about chaos to those that are near it. We never really are given a definite answer as to why the monkey does what it does, but it does not matter. What matters is seeing how vile and creative the deaths in this movie are. Osgood Perkins, fresh off the success of LongLegs, once again shows us that he can take an interesting concept and give us something unique.
Back to the story, Hal and Bill (Christian Convery) are twin brothers who have found this monkey when going through their father’s belongings. The boys do not know that they have unleashed evil when they take the monkey out of the box and turn the key on its back. Within an hour of doing this, they witness the first death caused by the monkey. Due to their possession of the monkey, the boys are privy to seeing firsthand what the monkey can do. Little by little the boys can decipher some rules for the monkey and feel they can understand why death follows it.
As the story flashes forward we meet an older Hal (Theo James) and see how his life has turned out. Hal has a son, Petey (Colin O’Brien) who he only sees once a year for fear of exposing him to the horrors of the monkey. Unfortunately, there is no hiding as the monkey is back and the killings are starting again. Hal’s twin brother, Bill (also played by Theo James) is aware of the monkey’s return and feels the brothers need to team up to stop it from killing.
The movie deals with a lot of issues of trauma and baggage given to kids by their parents. Tatiana Maslany plays their mother, Lois, who doesn’t hide the pain and anger she has for the boys’ father leaving them. She is upfront with them about life and death. During a funeral, she tells the kids that they will die one day and while it is a somber moment, you can not help but laugh at the absurdity of the speech she gives them. We can see how the parental baggage has affected the boys into their adulthood and the monkey is just one part of it.
The Monkey is part horror-part comedy. There are plenty of “WTF” moments when it comes to the deaths on the screen but some of these moments are so ridiculous that you can not help but laugh. The deaths are a cross between the Final Destination movies and Faces of Death. As the scenes play out you can kind of see where it is going but like a rune-goldberg device, the ride to the end is worth the trip.
Final Thoughts: The Monkey is a great time at the movies with scenes that will have you either covering your mouth in shock or laughing out loud. Osgood Perkins has taken Stephen King’s short story and twisted it on its head with this tale of death and family dynamics. Theo James and Tatiana Maslany are incredible in this with the former taking on multiple roles that are completely unhinged and different. The Monkey is one messed-up ride that will have you fearing primates for a good while after the movie is over.
Kid-Friendly: The overall theme of trauma passed down from generation to generation could bring up some interesting conversations among families. The dynamic between the two brothers is worrisome at most but it bodes well for the telling of the story. The images shown with the deaths are not for kids under 16. The deaths have earned this movie the R-rating that it has received.
Violence: There is no way to hide the fact that The Monkey is a violent movie. From the opening death scene to the final moment, blood is spilling everywhere. Some of the deaths are offscreen but the audience is shown the aftermath of them. As for the ones that are on the screen, those are the ones that will have you whispering, “WTF!”
Based on the Stephen King short story, and produced by James Wan (The Conjuring, Saw), The Monkey is a new trip from Longlegs writer/director, Osgood Perkins.
When twin brothers find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear their family apart. Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree forcing the estranged brothers to confront the cursed toy.