The Monkey review: The best Stephen King movie since IT 

Osgood Perkins’ new movie is a testament to how a little humor and a lot of violence can make for a great Stephen King adaptation.

Blood is a rite of passage in Stephen King‘s world. It covered Carrie White, exploded out of Beverly Marsh’s sink, and poured from the elevators of the Overlook Hotel. King without blood isn’t much of a spectacle, and thankfully, The Monkey has it in bucketloads.

Off the back of his success with 2024’s Longlegs, Osgood Perkins has returned in a new form with a movie that’s closer to an extremely black comedy than an out-and-out horror. 

With the 1980 short story getting a boost from Perkins’ morbid humor and creative Rube Goldberg-esque kills, The Monkey stands as the best Stephen King adaptation since Andy Muschietti’s It.

What is The Monkey about?

The Monkey begins with the childhood of Hal (Theo James), a meek and quiet twin who plays second fiddle to his foul-mouthed brother, Bill. When the two discover an old drumming monkey toy left behind in their father’s storage, they find they are unable to shake its strange, spiritual pull.

What they soon discover is that this is no ordinary monkey toy. (In fact, you shouldn’t call it a toy at all. Really.) As people around them start dying in horrific and imaginative ways, they bury the monkey, hoping it will leave them be.

25 years later, Hal is a mild-mannered and meek father who takes his teenage son out on what’s set to be the last of their once-a-year meetings. 

However, when he gets a call from the reclusive and deranged Bill, who he hasn’t seen in decades, he realizes “the monkey that likes killing our family” is back. And this time, it’s out for even more blood. 

A turning point for King’s work

And after becoming so prolific as to warrant subgenre status, it’s understandable why the legacy of Stephen King adaptations has dipped: they take themselves much too seriously. The Dark Tower, the 2019 version of Pet Sematary, and Salem’s Lot all failed to live up to the standard set during the ‘80s-‘90s run of “King movies”. 

The only true success story is 2017’s It, which became a box office triumph and reminded audiences of how King’s stories should be told. The Monkey, with all its Final Destination-style anticipation and handful of effective jump scares, captures the same playful horror as its clown-faced predecessor. 

Neon

Perkins’ version hits the ground running from the bloody and fiery opening sequence, which perfectly strikes the film’s disturbingly entertaining tone.

Just how gruesome is this going to get, exactly? Well, each kill that comes along is more horrific than the last, and one particular sequence involving a camping trip gone-wrong will likely leave you squirming. 

With such a diversion from the usual tone of fellow adaptations, you might find yourself forgetting whose work you’re watching. But Perkins takes joy in scattering many an Easter egg for the iconic author, and the addition of familiar King-isms still keeps The Monkey rooted in his Maine-based, small-town universe, with ‘50s colloquialisms aplenty. (Uses of “Oh, mercy!”, and “Darn” keep things light.)

Another home run for Osgood Perkins

Thanks to Longlegs‘ many successes in 2024 (not the least of which being the film’s flawless marketing campaign), Perkins has already cemented himself as the big new horror director on the scene. 

With The Monkey, he throws that status away. Ditching the pseudo-prestige feel of Longlegs for something far more exaggerated and goofy proves him to be as adaptable as he is talented.

But it’s not all laughs: there are enough oddities to keep you feeling unnerved and forever wondering when that damn monkey is going to show up unannounced. 

Black Bear

Equally smart is the decision to abandon pages’ worth of lore and exposition for the titular toy. It’s a monkey that kills people: deal with it.

Theo James, who is arguably miscast in the role of hangdog Hal, proves himself when it’s time to step into Bill’s shoes. He plays both the bully and the bullied very successfully, and becomes perfectly comedic with both brothers’ nonchalance of the monkey’s immense violent power.

They’ve seen it all before – the deaths are more of an inconvenience to them than anything else.

The Monkey review score: 4/5 – Very good

As a follow-up to Perkins’ Longlegs, The Monkey is an unexpected and wildly fun horror-comedy that shouldn’t be taken too seriously. To question it is to take away the magic of the premise, and if you’re looking for a haunting exploration of life and death, you won’t find it. What you will find instead are some genuine laughs, kills that’ll make you cringe, and plenty of self-aware jabs. 

As for a King adaptation, The Monkey likely won’t stand among the legendary greats. But it’s a change in approach that works very well, and one that could (and should) be replicated in the upcoming reboot of The Running Man. Hopefully it opens the door for other freakier films from the author’s work to come next.

The Monkey arrives in theaters on February 21, 2025.

For more, check out all the other 2025 horror movies to get excited about. You can also take a look at the best horror TV shows ever made.

For more information on how we score TV shows and movies, check out our scoring guidelines here.