The Monkey

Cast View all

	Theo James	Hal
	Tatiana Maslany	Lois
	Christian Convery	Young Hal
	Colin O'Brien	Petey
	Adam Scott	Captain Petey Shelborn
	Elijah Wood	Ted
	Rohan Campbell	Thrasher
	Sarah Levy	Aunt Ida
	Oz Perkins	Uncle Chip
	Tess Degenstein	Barbara
	Danica Dreyer	Babysitter Annie
	Beatrix Perkins	Florence
	Kingston Chan	Lt. Pepper
	Zia Newton	Dwayne
	Nicco Del Rio	Rookie Priest
	Shafin Karim	Pawn Shop Owner
	Lumen Beltran	Police Officer
	Laura Mennell	Petey's Mom
	Janet Kidder	Thrasher's Mom
	Paul Puzzella	Thrasher's Dad
	Jeremy Cox	Beauchamps
	Corin Clark	Diving Woman
	Jason Burkart	Lawnmower Neighbor
	Scott Nicholson	Burt Burgerson
	Katie Stuart	Nancy Rizzoli

Crew View all

Director	Oz Perkins
Writer	Oz Perkins, Stephen King
Producer	Fred Berger, Giuliana Bertuzzi, Dave Caplan, Omani Carson, Michael Clear, Chris Cole, Liz Destro, Jonathan DuBois, Chris Ferguson, John Friedberg, Ryan Friscia, David Gendron, Michael Heimler, Ali Jazayeri, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Andy Levine, Peter Luo, Marlaina Mah, Simon Misselbrook, Christian Parkes, Andy Price, Sara W. Price, Connor Purcell, Owen Qing, Tom Quinn, John Rickard, Natalia Safran, Peter Safran, Jesse Savath, Teddy Schwarzman
Musician	Edo Van Breemen
Photography	Nico Aguilar

Trailer

Edition details

Personal

Notes

My quick rating - 6.5/10. Stephen King is really all I need to hear to check out a horror flick, and The Monkey delivers a fun, twisted time, even if it comes with a few annoying strings attached. The premise is delightfully simple and plays out with the gory rhythm of a Final Destination movie: there’s a creepy toy monkey that beats a drum, and every time it stops, someone dies. You’d think that would get old fast, but the filmmakers keep the kills inventive and tongue-in-cheek enough to keep you watching. There's even a mid-movie death montage that feels like the writers going, “We know, we’re behind, let’s catch you up real quick.” And it works.
Theo James pulls double duty as adult Bill and his twin, Hal—both of whom, at both ages, are just wildly frustrating characters. Not because of the acting, which is perfectly serviceable, but because of the way they’re written. Adult Bill in particular is infuriating. The guy refuses to clue his kid in on what’s happening, again and again, and it's hard not to scream at the screen. His stubbornness and refusal to cooperate undercut some of the fun, and it started wearing on me pretty early.
Still, even with my frustrations, I had a good time. The kills are creatively gory, the humor lands, and there's a consistent creepy charm to the monkey itself. Adam Scott pops up early on, and it was great to see him away from the corporate Lumon hellscape of Severance and into something a little more deadly.
There’s a bonus trailer after the credits—more of a tease for a new film than a sequel. (Screenrant has the breakdown if you're curious.) I’ve never read King’s original short story, but something tells me that ending went in a very different direction on the page.
Despite some annoying character choices and a plot that felt a little too one-note by the end, The Monkey still manages to entertain. That says a lot because if not for Bill being the human version of a wet blanket, I might’ve rated this even higher.
Anyone read the short story? Curious how the source material handled it.

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