David Farnor | On 08, Nov 2025

Director: Osgood Perkins
Cast: Theo James, Colin O’Brien, Adam Scott
Certificate: 15

Let’s face it: when you choose to watch a horror film called The Monkey, you probably know what you’re getting into. And, to The Monkey’s credit, it more than delivers.

Based on a short story by Stephen King, the film introduces us to a toy monkey with a killer streak – a killer streak that involves weirdly elaborate, incredible graphic and seemingly random deaths. We find that out immediately thanks to an incident involving a harpoon and an antiques shop, and things get suitably sillier from there.

The tone is set by a guest appearance from Adam Scott as Petey, who hits just the right level of playful camp to make things entertaining, while also selling the trauma that comes with a wind-up legacy of death. Theo James gamely keeps that going as Petey’s son, Hal, whose twin brother, Bill (also James), is estranged after a tragedy strikes their family when they’re young.

James, who shot to stardom in Netflix’s The Gentlemen, is clearly relishing the chance to do something a bit different, and he is excellent at contrasting the creeping terrior of the cautious Hal with the wide-eyed mania of the power (and revenge) hungry Bill. All the while, he has a lived-in awkward chemistry with his son, Petey (Colin O’Brien), who is unknowingly on the verge of inheriting the evil monkey’s curse.

Osgood Perkins – fresh from Longlegs – is a natural fit for the material, bringing a twisted sense of humour to the script. Each set piece is like a Final Destination sequence on fast-forward, swapping tense build-ups for shocking splatter – while maintaining a surprisingly grounded throughline about the randomness and pointlessness of death.

The result is visually fun and disturbingly violent, with the chaos all unfolding in a tight 98 minutes that prevents the absurdity of it all from losing its impact. In short, if you want a darkly funny horror film about an evil wind-up monkey, this is the film for you.

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