By Robert Scucci
| Published
Osgood Perkins has made a name for himself as one of the leading auteurs in the elevated horror genre. With films like Longlegs and The Blackcoat’s Daughter functioning as total vibe pieces steeped in existential dread, 2025’s The Monkey is a refreshing break from the super-serious tone we’ve come to expect from him.
A loose adaptation of Stephen King’s short story of the same name, The Monkey delivers the same meticulous cinematography Perkins is celebrated for, but goes gleefully over the top with its execution. The result is a high-caliber horror comedy that’s equal parts disgusting and morbidly hilarious.
I like to go into movies like The Monkey blind, and I’m so glad I did. I knew it was billed as a dark comedy, but I expected the humor to break up the tension, not define the entire experience. Instead, the gore and dismemberment serve as “horror relief” in what’s essentially a straight-up comedy.
The Monkey centers on Hal and Bill Shelburn, twin brothers both played by Theo James in a dual role. As kids, they inherit an evil wind-up monkey toy from their absent father, Captain Petey Shelburn (Adam Scott), and everything quickly goes sideways. When the boys first turn the monkey’s key, their babysitter, Annie (Danica Dreyer), is killed at a hibachi restaurant. Later, when Hal tries to turn the key again with the intent of killing Bill, their mother, Lois (Tatiana Maslany), ends up dead instead.
Realizing the monkey is behind every horrific tragedy, Hal and Bill toss it down a well and try to move on with their lives.
25 years later, the monkey’s curse returns in full force to haunt Hal, now living a miserable life defined by trauma and regret. Before his ex-wife (Laura Mennell) and her new husband, Ted Hammerman (Elijah Wood), gain full custody of their son Petey (Colin O’Brien), Hal takes the boy on one last weekend trip. During that time, he reconnects with Bill, who believes The Monkey has escaped the well and is ready to kill again, one cackle and drumroll at a time.
It doesn’t take long for the body count to rise, and that’s when The Monkey becomes something truly fun.
A Total Gorefest
While everyone in The Monkey plays it straight as if trapped in a genuine horror movie, the absurd kills and situational humor push it squarely into comedic territory. Theo James’ ability to stay deadpan as people explode, get disemboweled by wasps, or impale themselves on realtor signs makes every kill funnier than the last.
From the audience’s perspective, these gruesome deaths are impossible not to laugh at. And it’s not because of some twisted fascination with violence. Hal, long aware that the cursed monkey is destroying his life again, reacts with pure exhaustion. By the time things escalate to ridiculous extremes, his go-to response is a tired “huh,” and it kills every single time.
Streaming The Monkey
The Monkey is one of those self-aware horror films that you owe it to yourself to experience. Even Stephen King, who’s famously had mixed reactions to adaptations of his work, praised the movie, calling it “batsh*t insane.” Despite its elevated production quality, the film takes the opposite approach in tone. It’s dark, funny, and unpretentious in every possible way.
The Monkey is a masterfully made film from a serious director, but the trick is not taking it seriously at all. As of now, you can stream it on Hulu.
