The Monkey (2025) offers a manic, hit-or-miss descent into supernatural absurdity
Osgood Perkins presents a polarizing genre experiment with The Monkey; it’s a film that revels in its own unpredictable energy but sometimes stumbles on its tonal aspirations. Perkins succeeds in creating a visceral and darkly funny sense of the exploration of inherited trauma, but The Monkey feels like a disjointed carousel that runs out of gas before the last act.
A masterclass in visual malice
With Luis Arrieta’s strong, stalking cinematography, and the film’s stylized grotesque tech, the imagery of the cursed toy is absolutely horrifying and captures genuine dread and is surprisingly grounded, regardless of the silliness of a wind-up monkey killing people.
Critics say the film’s warped confidence paired with its stylized grotesque tech, gives them confidence to create a standard creature feature. The film’s confidence allows the editors to maintain a rhythm and lets them have a rapid pulse, keeping the audiences off balance, mirroring the psychological breakdown of the twin brothers.
When irony undermines the horror
The film has a tough time satirizing its self described emotional stakes, some people might enjoy the ironic tone, but it could be argued that it flattens any deep potential commentary about brotherhood and parental grief.
When the story’s focus is on the violent antics rather than the development of the characters or the story, it pulls the audience’s empathy back. The film’s tone is scattered. At times the need to be shocking outweighs the need to tell the audience a story that resonates.
Who should brave the monkey?
This movie is compulsory watching for fans of Osgood Perkins’ brand of atmospheric chill, and also for people that enjoy dark R rated comedies, and don’t care about a bit of blood. People who prefer a serious tone with no jokes in their horror films will find the bold shifts to a slapstick approach way more annoying than any of the audience members this film was made for would find it entertaining.
Those that enjoy narrative clarity in a film would probably be smarter than to look at this one. The film lacks any real focus on any single aspect with dramatic effect. That said, if you enjoy a primitive and unplanned approach to film in a way that is over the line of most types of film, this film does enough to justify buying a ticket.
The Monkey: Ending Explained
(Spoilers ahead) The end of the film adds a final commentary on the brothers’ family trauma. The brothers likely can’t get rid of their history as easily as they dropped a toy into a well. The monkey’s return signifies that the twins’ broken bond will keep coming back, and shows that they can’t run from their past. The film reveals that the stress isn’t from the toy, but the enduring trauma that’s been passed down through the generations.
