By Jordan Taylor
The Monkey is directed by Osgood Perkins. It is based on the book by Stephen King. It stars Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Oz Perkins, and Elijah Wood. The film follows two twin boys Hal and Bill both played by Theo James. Hal is the protagonist and main character. Bill is the evil twin brother. Throughout their childhood they had a toy monkey. Whenever Bill would turn the key on the monkey, someone would die. Despite knowing this, Bill continued to do it throughout their childhood. It killed multiple people in their family growing up. When the film cuts to them in present day, Hal and Bill are estranged. James has a son in the movie that he needs to protect.
Osgood Perkins is the same director behind last summers Longlegs. That movie was a massive hit in theatres. It was an interesting case where critics loved it, but audiences didn’t as much. This movie has had a similar outcome. Only the reviews haven’t been as positive as with Longlegs.
I personally loved Longlegs, so I was looking forward to Perkins followup movie. Having now seen the movie, I can say The Monkey is a great followup. The Monkey isn’t quite as good as Longlegs but it’s still a very suspensful horror movie. It’s an interesting movie like Longlegs where the pace is slow but then evil things happen throughout the movie. Things slowly spiral out of control. Perkins has an element of suspense to his movies that make them very captivating. The film is also very well shot as well. It has this classic like feel to it. From the opening logo, your immediately locked in.
Theo James is fantastic in this movie as well. He carries this movie as the lead. James has mostly had supporting roles like in the Divergent movies. However he’s a great leading man, and it was great to see in a lead role. James is very convincing as the lead Hal and his evil twin brother Bill.
The film is also very well shot as well. It does a great job at engaging the audience. Throughout the movie you really have no idea what will happen next. You also really feel a sense of danger throughout the entire movie. The Monkey has a great sense of stakes. You really feel like any character could die at any given point.
Overall if you like this type of movie, it’s a great watch for Horror fans. I definitely recommend for fans of Longlegs, and Steven King fans especially.
3 and a half stars
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