2 out of 5 Evil Toy Monkeys (Has Some Good Moments, But is Overall Bad)
The Monkey is the 2nd big disappointment for me in a row this year (the first being Paddington in Peru). It’s based on a short story by the great Stephen King, is written and directed by Osgood Perkins, the guy who gave us the wonderfully unnerving Longlegs, and has an awesomely bananas horror-comedy hook, but, as with many high-concept movies, it falters in the execution. The Monkey has fine kills, but an overly glib approach and unlikable characters render it more irritating than entertaining. I won’t go ape over this.
THE MONKEY Trailer (2025) Stephen King
25 years ago, estranged brothers Hal and Bill Shelburn (both played by Theo James) found a key-turn toy monkey in the closet of their dead (and deadbeat) dad. When the key is turned, the monkey will start drumming and someone random will die in an outlandish (and bloody) fashion. They tried to bury and destroy the toy after it whittled their family down like flies, but now it’s back for vengeance. With his teen son Petery (Colin O’Brien) along for the ride, Hal must try to stop the sinister simian once and for all.
The Monkey is like a stand-up comic who opens with a good gag, but delivers weaker and weaker jokes the longer the night goes. The first scene hits a good tonal balance of dark humor and ridiculous gore, but that balance teeters to one side or the other for most of its runtime. The characters here aren’t likable nor do they ever talk or react like believable people, so I had nothing to invest in beyond waiting for the next cool murder. There are also no limitations given on the monkey’s sentience or power to affect the world once the key is turned, so there’s little tension around him beyond who will be in the next body bag.
Theo James seems to have been instructed to channel his inner Ryan Reynolds for these performances, and while Reynolds has made a career off of glibness, James doesn’t have the charisma for it and thus left me annoyed at him (not helped by Deadpool-esque narration). The film also makes the modern movie mistake of undermining a supposedly sincere moment with a stupid gag, and since that moment is trying to pay off what’s meant to be the core relationship in this story, I took it that the movie didn’t Want me to care about that relationship or anything besides the kills. Thank goodness most of those kills are enjoyable in the same way the Final Destination kills are (ridiculous death setups with laughably gory payoffs), but a horror movie where the only thing I care about is seeing what the next murder will be is not a good one to me, and when this one ended with a shrug, I felt like the biggest monkey in that theater for having paid to see it. The Monkey has enjoyably bloody kills and the occasional funny line, but its irritatingly glib refusal to be sincere about anything neuters any potential investment. Chuck this toy in the garbage.
Rated R for Strong Bloody Violent Content, Gore, Language Throughout, and Some Sexual References