It appears Osgood Perkins may be entering his Ti West phase – i.e., you’ll never be able to predict how many projects he simultaneously has in production. The director made waves in 2024 due to the rapturous reception to one of the best horror films of the decade – Longlegs. His new film, The Monkey, has just been released a year later… and that film even has a stinger at the end, teasing Perkins’ next movie releasing later this year – Keeper. For a director who’s only just recently reached mainstream recognition, he’s cashing all his chips in NOW while he’s hot.
The Monkey, as a result, is the first test of the director’s big name staying power, capitalizing on the success of Longlegs, but the two films are fundamentally very different types of horror flicks. Longlegs remains chilling and unflinching in its look at an enigmatic serial killer, while The Monkey takes the surprising turn of having its tongue firmly in cheek. If Nicolas Cage was too scary for you, lucky for you that The Monkey offers plenty of laughs amidst its violent material, to relive some of the tension. Based on the Stephen King short story, the film chronicles a tumultuous relationship between two estranged brothers while navigating the fear and heartache of a forever curse.
The curse is embodied in the titular monkey, a disturbing looking toy with an unsettling wind-up, as it bangs on its drumset. Siblings Hal and Bill (Theo James, portraying both) discovered the toy as kids while rummaging through the belongings of their absentee father. What proceeds is a parade of fatal accidents, as caused by the toy’s drum solo when activated. The boys at multiple points attempt to discard the toy… but you know how this works – it just teleports back home just a few hours later. Meanwhile, as the siblings enter adulthood while enduring the trauma of the curse, their own relationship slowly deteriorates and exacerbates the conflict.
While Longlegs was a clinical depiction of madness, The Monkey probably has more in common with a darker version of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Even as the film confronts and depicts horrific events, it does much of it comedically and even in a mocking tone. As the curse becomes gradually uncontrollable, consuming more and more victims, the movie is quick to punctuate these moments with gags. Such as getting decapitated at a hibachi restaurant of all places or a young Bill lamenting how he’ll never get a chance to wed his much older babysitter. As a result, the film exists mostly as a horror comedy, which in some aspects comes at the expense of the movie’s tension.
This isn’t necessarily a misguided direction to take the story; in fact, much of the film’s early success comes from how brazen and funny the characters are. Tatiana Maslany fits right into this tone, maintaining the balance as a sweet single mother to Hal and Bill, while still able to play up the absurdist horror in the film’s big set pieces. She elevates pretty much every scene she’s in, as Tatiana Maslany is ought to do. But as the movie progresses and you begin to get a bit numb to the story’s humorous handling of its stakes, there begins to be some diminishing returns to the gags. This is even reflected in the finale, where one gag evolves to the point where a character “beating a dead horse” in their joke is the punchline.
Despite this, The Monkey features quite a few memorable sequences, including a fiery beginning as well as the apex of the film’s setpieces, involving a woman taking a dangerous swim late at night. These moments not only show off the film’s budget and craftmanship but are perhaps the high points in terms of actual tension building. That’s both good and bad, as neither of those moments are within the climax of the story – a climax that ups the film’s scale, but doesn’t succeed as well in upping our investment into the characters and narrative.
The consequences for this are most felt in the relationship between Hal and Bill, a sibling relationship defined by Bill’s verbal abuse to his twin. But the repetitive nature of the curse and the humor diminishes the sincere investment into this relationship. Too much of their story is undercut by punchlines and gags that overstay their welcome. Still, The Monkey is a fun, entertaining film even if it isn’t the best version of itself. It isn’t nearly as captivating as Longlegs, but few films in the genre are. What the movie exemplifies is that even veteran filmmakers are constantly evolving and trying to find the right recipe in their stories. The Monkey is missing a few key ingredients, but it’s still worth finishing your plate.
Our Rating:
