Theo James, even when he’s good, such as in White Lotus season two (2022) or the ill-fated HBO adaption of The Time Traveler’s Wife (2022), has apparently been miscast his entire career until The Monkey (2025). Usually playing a George Clooney (Ocean’s Eleven; ER) or Cary Grant (North by Northwest; His Girl Friday) type, his true position is finally revealed, heir apparent to Nathan Fillion (Firefly; Slither). Out in theaters on February 21st, Osgood Perkin’s (The Blackcoat’s Daughter) follow-up to last year’s box-office smash horror film Longlegs (2024) is a B-list-studded, gross-out horror comedy that delivers on laughs where it counts. Cynical, blood-soaked, and hilarious, The Monkey should have no problem appealing to those who found Longlegs too ponderous.
Theo James in Osgood Perkins’ 2025 horror comedy THE MONKEY. Image courtesy of NEON.
Adapted from a Stephen King (IT; The Shining) short story, The Monkey is about two twin brothers, Hal and Bill, who discover that their deadbeat dad left them a cursed windup toy monkey that, it turns out, loves to kill people in ridiculous ways when you wind its key. You can feel the lifeblood of It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019) in the script’s expansion of the story as the largest chunk of the film plays as a parody of a legasequel to the first 30 minutes in Derry. At the start, Christian Convery (Beautiful Boy; Venom) turns in a hilarious performance as Hal and his older-twin-bully Bill, but when Theo James enters the film, his Hal is a sarcastic sad sack shell of a man-child. His self-imposed one-day-a-year visitation with his son Petey, played by Colin O’Brien (Wonka; Mr. Harrigan’s Phone) has been interrupted by a death in the family and the return of that dreaded toy monkey. Together, they will reckon with the reality of death, their family history, and what the trauma of Hal’s childhood took from them. They will also get absolutely soaked in the blood of the people around them.
“Say it, or I’ll eat the rest of your placenta, bitch.”
Joining the wide-ranging ensemble are Adam Scott (Severance; The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), Elijah Wood (The Fellow of the Rings; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), and the excellent Tatiana Maslany (She-Hulk; Eastern Promises), whose takes on the “cool mom” stereotype keeps the movie’s heart pumping. Even Osgood Perkins himself puts on a costume, appearing in a hilarious bit and giving himself what will be one of the great portraits of a director that will ever grace essays, books on film, and (hopefully distant) future obituary pages.
The Monkey walks in the footsteps of pulpy genre comedies like Repo Man (1984), Dick (1999), Men in Black (1997), and Big Trouble in Litle China (1986), while looking like a million bucks. Strange as it is to say, the sweeping scale of some of the humanistic photography Perkins and Nico Aguilar (Fool’s Paradise; Chupa) show that if they ever tire of sharp objects penetrating hapless bystanders or bodies that explode like soda cans, the pair might have a great American epic in them. The props, as well, are clearly made with care. There are plenty of Scooby-Doo-style booby traps and Rube Goldberg machines to delight every film fan, but the titular monkey itself takes the cake. The details of the hair, the glass eyes, the rubber hands and face, the spinning drumstick, it’s all top of the line in a way most blockbusters don’t even care to attempt.
The Monkey in Osgood Perkins’ 2025 horror comedy THE MONKEY. Image courtesy of NEON.
The screening I attended was a live broadcast with a Q&A at Alamo Drafthouses across the country before the strike began. The moderator opened his introduction to the film by stating that it’s “nothing like Longlegs,” but for those unsatisfied with the hype of that film, that probably won’t be true. The weakness of The Monkey is the same some (not I) claimed about Longlegs — expectations. Perkins refuses to pander to them. It may be written in the genre structure of a horror film, but it is not scary. It is thrilling, it is gross, and it still gets crowds screaming in shock together, but its priority is laughter, not fear. This is often the case with a horror comedy, and for that, it is easily forgiven when you’re laughing. The Monkey is the most fun you’ve been able to have on a night out to the theater in weeks if not months.
In theaters February 21st, 2025.
For more information, head to the official NEON The Monkey webpage.
Final Score: 4 out of 5.
This piece was written before the start of the 2025 Alamo Drafthouse strike. Without the labor of the staff currently on strike, exhibitors and theaters like Alamo Drafthouse wouldn’t exist.
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Categories: Films To Watch, In Theaters, Recommendation, Reviews
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