The Monkey (2025) Review: Oz Perkin’s take on Stephen King’s short story

Writer-Director Osgood Perkins decided to have a little fun while involved in adapting Stephen King’s 1980 horror short story for the screen. Following his unsettling depiction of the malevolent Longlegs, Oz Perkins presents an unconventional dark comedy with outrageous levels of gore that is intended to both shock and delight.

The premise: Twin brothers Hal and Bill discover their father’s old toy monkey in the attic, The monkey looks positively sinister and the two brothers recoil in absolute disbelief as unleashing the monkey results in a string of arcane deaths around them. Over time, the brothers manage to discard the monkey and embark on distinctly different routes to escape their haunting past.

But when the deaths start happening again, the brothers are forced to reconnect and determine the reason for this sudden unrest.

The film opens with a man in a uniform trying to absolve the monkey off his hands. He attempts to sell it but fails to do so as the toy monkey is basically broken, although in working condition. Then he attempts to destroy it with a fire hose.

Almost immediately, the film switches to the origins of the monkey, giving the viewer an insight into the childhood days of the two brothers, their seemingly antagonistic relationship and their quest for healing post unimaginable trauma.

While both siblings love their single mother Lois (Tatiana Maslany), whose husband left the family long ago, the quiet youngster Hal (Child: Christian Convery; Adult: Theo James), hates his bully twin brother Bill (also played by Convery & James) in a flashback from 1999. The brothers are intrigued by an organ grinder monkey that their father has left behind. However, they soon uncover a dreadful fact: someone dies in a strange, unintentional way when they wind up the toy and the monkey begins to beat its drum. This includes their babysitter and many, many others follow.

When The Monkey jumps ahead to the present, James’ adult Hal has made the decision to stay apart from everyone, including his loved ones, out of fear that the monkey would reappear and wreak havoc on those closest to him. He is forced to reunite with his polar opposite estranged brother to fight this evil toy. Theo James’ comedic dual performances highlight the story’s blatant ridiculousness.

Will they succeed in destroying the monkey?

Theo James’ performance is a toned-down, hilarious version of his character in the ‘Divergent’ series. Most of the movie he looks totally exasperated. The film also included guest appearances by Elijah Wood and Sarah Levy.

With the help of cinematographer Nico Aguilar, Perkins crafts a constant flow of compelling visuals that attempt to evoke fear in the audience even at the most seemingly ordinary moments. Unfortunately, the toy doesn’t look even remotely frightening. The first thirty minutes of this movie are entertaining and absurdly humorous. But then, it just gets repetitive and dull. By the time, the movie ends, you will be left with a sense of incompleteness, with no clear solution provided through the movie. Just for absurdity’s sake, you can give this lacklustre film a watch. It’s a wild ruckus and completely insane.