TV show or Movie: Movie
Where to watch: In theaters
Genre: Horror, comedy
What It Reminds Me Of: Final Destination, Annabelle, Twilight Zone
Writer: Oz Perkins, based on a short story by Stephen King
Director: Oz Perkins
Premise: When twin brothers Bill and Hal find their father’s old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths start. The siblings decide to throw the toy away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years.
My Premise: Three couples reunite at a billionaires secluded lake house and true identities come to light as people
Cast: Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Christian Converg, Colin O’Brien, Rohan Campbell, Sarah Levy
I was all in from the moment I saw this trailer. A Stephen King short story. Produced by James Wan. Theo James—and also Theo James. I wasn’t as sold on Oz Perkins after Longlegs left me wildly disappointed, but now? Fully on board with him as a writer/director.
Apparently, I was the only one who didn’t pick up on the comedy in the trailer. It looked so violent and gruesome that I must have missed it. But let me tell you—this movie is hilarious. From start to finish. And not just because of the deaths. The way the characters talk about death, the dynamic between the brothers—there’s even a funeral scene with the mom and two sons that has some of the funniest dialogue in the movie.
It also kicks off with a totally unexpected cameo—one I never saw coming but was so hyped to see. The opening sets up The Monkey and wastes no time with a strong first kill. The second act slows down a bit, but it makes sense for the story and leads up to a wild third act. The movie is basically a sandwich where the meat is on the outsides—the first and third acts are loaded with over-the-top, violent, gruesome deaths. The whole theater was in uproar during the kill scenes, where you either see it coming a mile away or have no clue what’s about to happen. And the body parts? They really fly in this movie.
This year seems to be big for horror, but also big for actors playing multiple roles. Theo James plays twins in The Monkey, Robert Pattinson is tackling at least 17 versions of himself in Mickey 17, and Robert De Niro is pulling double duty as Frank Costello and Vito Genovese in The Alto Knights. I’ve become a huge Theo James fan—just finished watching him in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentleman series, and of course, he was great in The White Lotus and The Time Traveler’s Wife. He nails the contrast between the two brothers here.
Elijah Wood has been popping up in a lot of horror lately—he’s in Yellowjackets opposite Christina Ricci’s insane Misty, he’s starring in the long-awaited Toxic Avenger reboot, and he has a small but fun part in this movie. Also, seeing Sarah Levy in this? Unexpected but great. She plays a funky, fun character.
The whole thing feels like a Twilight Zone movie with a big budget and zero PG-13 restrictions. When I first saw the trailer, I immediately thought about how it could prime people for Final Destination 6—another movie loaded with random, violent, Rube Goldbergian deaths. Can audiences handle two movies like that in one year? At least there’s a few months between them.
Trivia time: I just learned that Os Perkins was Dorky David in Legally Blonde!
