The Monkey (2025) is directed by Osgood Perkins and stars Theo James, Colin O’Brien, Tatiana Maslany, Christian Convery, Rohan Campbell, Elijah Wood, Sarah Levy, Osgood Perkins, Tess Degenstein, Danica Dreyer, Beatrix Perkins, Kingston Chan, Zia Newton, Nicco Del Rio, Shafin Karim, and Adam Scott. Based on the short story by Stephen King, the film follows Hal & Bill (Convery), identical twin brothers who, as children, discover an evil wind-up monkey left behind by their late father (Scott). When the brothers discover that turning the key on the Monkey’s back causes people around them to die in brutal freak accidents, they proceed to dispose of the monkey for good. 25 years later, the monkey reappears at an estate sale and once begins wreaking havoc in Hal & Bill’s hometown. This forces the now estranged brothers (James) to reunite in order to vanquish the evil one last time. 

Although Theo James is serviceable as both Bill & Hal, he’s not quite skilled enough of an actor to really nail both roles. He’s just asked to do a little too much and fails to distinguish the brothers despite their wildly different motivations. On the bright side, I think his natural energy fits well with the film’s darkly comedic tone. I think a more skilled actor could’ve really helped elevate the experience, but James is serviceable enough not to diminish it. 

As for the supporting cast, young Christian Convery is actually more impressive than Theo James in his ability to play Bill and Hal as two distinctly different people. To be honest, I didn’t even realize the young versions of Bill and Hal were played by the same actor. Tatiana Maslany stands out in her limited role as the boys’ mother, but other than that, very few of the supporting characters receive enough focus to be memorable. For example, Elijah Wood as Hal’s ex-wife’s new husband is a memorably goofy cameo; unfortunately, the script doesn’t use him for anything besides one half-baked gag. Similar to a stoner priest character played by Nico Del Rio, the character is fun but admittedly pointless. I have no problem with the fact that these characters are small, but they should at least be implemented into the overall plot. They may be fun, but they don’t really matter. 

For the most part, the film does a great job of balancing its conflicting tones. The inherent silliness of a killer wind-up monkey feels tailor-made for a full-on dark comedy. The over-the-top nature of the kills is silly, but they remain shocking due to the unapologetic use of gut-wrenching gore. Not every joke lands due to the fact that the tone occasionally feels a bit mean-spirited about death, but more often than not, the very specific tone seems to work. I think this is because, more so than emulating any typical horror-comedy, the film emulates the kind of horror-comedy that is specific to Stephen King. Instead of balancing the horror with jokes alone, King’s trademark use of nostalgic Americana gives the film an almost irrationally positivity that reflects the country’s tendency to emotionally detach itself from violence. 

It is not a tone that’s going to appeal to everyone, and it’s clearly a less tightly conceived film than Perkins’ previous effort, Longlegs (2025), but it’s still an impressive effort that’s easily a step above most horror films (and especially horror-comedies). Even though it’s not the best horror-comedy released so far this year (that title goes to Companion), it’s still one of the better entries the subgenre has to offer overall. It’s been a good start to the year for these kinds of movies. It’s not as smart or subversive as I wish it would be, but it’s a ton of fun and delivers exactly what the marketing sold (maybe too much so… Some its the best scenes/surprises are spoiled in the trailers). Expecting something as memorable as Longlegs is inevitably a dead-end street, so if you instead temper your expectations accordingly, you’re sure to have a lot of bloody fun. B