When you hear ‘Stephen King,’ what comes to mind? Bloody prom queens? Haunted hotels? An evil clown with a red balloon? The thing all these stories have in common is that not only are they entertaining, but they’re also scary. With this in mind, you can imagine my expectations when I decided to watch the latest film based on King’s work of the same name, The Monkey (2025). Suffice to say, I walked out of the theatre feeling disappointed.
Directed by Osgood Perkins — known for Longlegs (2024) and The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015) — this film is based on King’s original short story, “The Monkey,” which was published in his collection, Skeleton Crew (1985). The story follows Hal (Theo James) as a deadly toy monkey from his childhood resurfaces after the death of his aunt (Sarah Levy). While navigating rocky relationships with both his son (Colin O’Brien) and Bill, his estranged twin brother — also played by James — Hal must find a way to vanquish the toy’s sinister power.
The topic of ‘daddy issues’ was explored heavily in The Monkey. Seriously, I don’t think a single character had a good relationship with their dad. That being said, this arc worked really well for Hal as both a son and a father. The way Hal, an awkward and reclusive man, interacted with his sarcastic and outspoken teenage son was hilarious. I just wish they’d kept this element contained to the central characters.
As funny as this movie was, you might be surprised to hear that this humour actually contributed to its downfall. While the trailer advertises it predominantly as a horror movie, The Monkey was truly more of a gory comedy with some horror elements thrown in. Don’t get me wrong, the jokes had me laughing from beginning to end, but I didn’t go in expecting a comedy. I wanted a good scare — especially with James Wan as producer, who’s known for Saw (2004) and The Conjuring (2013). The only laughing I do during movies like those is after my friend and I both get freaked out by a jump scare. Or because the movie, which has been mostly intense and full of terror, deliberately uses humour for relief. The Monkey instead prioritized a good laugh over a successful scare.
The best horror movies use humour sparingly, and they also often have frightening visuals that stay with you even after the movie’s over. The first movie that comes to my mind is Cuckoo (2024). I can still picture the grotesque monster’s outstretched arm as it chased Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) on her bike to this day.
Such lingering visuals were lacking in The Monkey — unless you count James’ horrible mullet wig. Other than that, the only disturbing aspect of the visuals in this film was the amount of unnecessary computer-generated imagery (CGI) used. The random technicolour dream sequence had me wondering if there was something extra in my popcorn, and don’t get me started on that random grim reaper.
Other than being visually scary, good horror movies need unnerving scores. A movie that does this really well is Us (2019). The film’s creepy remix of Luniz’s “I Got 5 On It” still haunts my nightmares. As for The Monkey, the sound of the toy’s drum wasn’t unpleasant to listen to, and it was also far from frightening.
Expectations aside, the brutal transitions, awkward monologues, and running gags were ultimately amusing. Not only that, but the movie had unexpected cameos from both Elijah Wood and Adam Scott which were both an absolute delight. I only wish they’d made better use of the Parks and Recreation (2009-2015) star’s experience in comedy. Nonetheless, Scott’s brief appearance was definitely welcome.
Finally, it seemed that the film couldn’t quite make up its mind on which era it wanted to take place in. The movie had tiny TVs with antennas in one scene and AirPods in another, then at one point, Hal broke open a phonebook. Because of the sets and costumes, some scenes that were supposed to take place in the 1990s seemed more like the 1970s. Maybe Perkins was trying to bring together the past and the present as seen in work like Riverdale (2017-2023) and Gotham (2014-2019), but it just didn’t land.
Still, the message of this movie came through clearly—almost too clearly if you ask me. Told through the lens of a man too afraid to let anyone in, The Monkey addresses the unfortunate spontaneity of dying and encourages viewers not to let our fear of death dictate our lives.
