“The Monkey” - Film Review
Stephen King is one of the world’s most prolific horror writers. He’s best known for stories like Carrie, IT, and others that have been adapted into television series, movies, and every other type of media imaginable. Many cite one of King’s works as the piece of horror media that first traumatized them, but one of King’s works hasn’t made it to the big screen until now. Osgood Perkins, fresh off the success of last year’s Longlegs, has returned to the silver screen in record time with The Monkey. Both films prove that Perkins has strong directing chops, but they’re missing something that ties them neatly together.
Young Hal and Bill Shelburn (both roles played by Christian Convery) grew up in the ’90s without their father (Adam Scott). As far as they know, their dad flatout left, which forced their mother, Lois (Tatiana Maslany), to raise the two boys on her own…for a while. You see, the Shelburn family is being tormented by a drum-playing toy monkey. If you turn the key in its back, it’ll play a little rhythm and then someone in its vicinity, but not the person who turned the key, will die a bizarre accidental death. Hal and Bill try to destroy it as kids, but twenty-five years later, they’re now adults (both roles now played by Theo James) who are once again tasked with destroying the monkey that tore their family apart.
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In contrast with last year’s Longlegs, The Monkey is a laugh riot. In contrast with many movies, though, The Monkey is actually far funnier than it has any business being. James is best known for his douchey performance in season two of The White Lotus, or as the generic teen dystopian boyfriend from the Divergent series, but The Monkey shows he’s got great comic intuition. Perkins gets a chance to crack some jokes with a cameo performance as Chip, Hal and Bill’s uncle. The Monkey works best when it leans into the absurdity of what is basically a glossier, more stylistic take on the Final Destination series. Both play with the idea that death comes for everyone and there’s no way to avoid it, but The Monkey tries to make it seem like it’s about something deeper than a demonic toy monkey. It’s okay if there’s not, and it’s okay if all the toy symbolizes is the way trauma is passed in a generational manner. The film doesn’t have to be more than that, but The Monkey wants to be more than it appears to be on the surface, and that stops it from being as successful as it could be. There are too many balls in the air, when all The Monkey needed to be was a story of trauma pulling families apart and the effort that goes into putting them back together.
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The highlight of The Monkey is, without question, Maslany’s performance. It’s been far too long since she’s found her way onto the silver screen, and that’s what’s wrong with Hollywood. Maslany gained fame from her multiple roles in Orphan Black, and was more recently cashing a Marvel check on She-Hulk, but The Monkey marks her first theatrical performance since before the pandemic. Maslany is all charisma, effortlessly capturing the attention of the audience, and it’s her performance that makes the younger years of Hal and Bill more intriguing than their adult ones. When The Monkey loses Maslany in the time jump, it loses something special that can’t be replicated.
While Perkins’ work hasn’t always landed with this critic, his directing chops and intriguing stories are something that will continue to put butts in seats. He’s crafting films that buck mainstream expectations, and even if they aren’t fully my cup of tea, they’re still an exciting trip to the movies. The Monkey doesn’t know how to build a deeper foundation beneath its creepy monkey surface, but its mere existence will be a thrill to horror seekers everywhere.
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