Osgood Perkins delivers a bloody hilarious adaptation of Stephen King’s short story
“Everybody dies”. It’s a tagline, a promise, and a fact of life. The inevitability of this, as well as the uncertainty of how we go, forms the basis of the horror, comedy, and emotional undercurrents of the latest film from Osgood Perkins (Longlegs, The Blackcoat’s Daughter). A rip-roaring adaptation of a Stephen King short story that likely the bloodiest and funniest horror film you’ll see this year.
Centered around twin brothers Hal and Bill who as kids (played by Christian Convery) try to better understand their long absent father (Adam Scott) by looking through his possessions and souvenirs, all accumulated from his trips as an airline pilot. One fateful day they open a box adorned with the words “like life” and inside find a clockwork monkey. An ominous element that seems to insert itself into their lives. After a a tragic loss, the pair come to the realization that winding up the monkey sets in motion a cursed series of events and an inevitable gruesome death. Dumping the toy into the dark void of a deep well, the film picks up 25 years later. A generational shift that allows the exploration of generational trauma. Bill (Theo James) has gone off the grid, while Hal (also Theo James, delivering two nuanced performances) is also closed off from his surrounds, most notably his son Petey (Colin O’Brien), who he keeps at arms length, forever worried about his safety should that damn monkey resurface. The fears well founded as a spate of violent deaths in their hometown force Hal out of his isolation, and with Petey in tow, he heads home to track down and destroy this cursed curio.
The Monkey immediately brings to mind the Final Destination series and their string of sequences as the Grim Reaper recaptures those evaded souls through a series of unfortunate (and often grisly) events. Each scene in the film is a veritable riff on a Chekov’s gun (or specifically a shotgun). You’ll skim he room, look across the items and setup to see what might be the next thing to take someone out. Some are obvious, others less so, but these kills are creative and the blood is bountiful. Be it by decapitation, explosion, harpoon, or surfboard, the surprise and comedic timing of these kills are pitch perfect. The absurdist streak that the film builds runs through the dialogue and supporting chatavcers too, amounting to a cartoonish temperment that is the perfect counter to some of the more morbid themes the film digs into.
Last yeah Perkins flexed with the chilling lore of Longlegs, a potent thriller that crept under the skin and chilled the soul. The Monkey is the antithesis of that, a raucous good time fueled by slapstick level carnage. But it’s no less calculated, deftly ruminating on the inevitability of death, and making peace with that, as well as themes of family and generational trauma, specifically the fallout of having an absentee father. Despite the efforts of their mother Lois (a marvelous turn from Tatiana Maslany), Bill and Hal blighted by the lack of this presence, and feelings of abandonment. An acrimonious relationship further soured by time and trauma, with Bill festering an obsession over his childhood losses, and Hal responding by repeating the sins of his father. Abandoning his own son to protect him, but in doing so harming him. A journey though blood and pain unfolds to show that acceptance and moving forward is better than being stuck in the past. It’s an honest message imparted by Lois to her boys early in the film that offers up both a path forward and to a path to peace, to not let grief consume you and to dance while you still can.
There are some missteps along the way. Some of the CGI is egregiously bad, undermining the impact of several kills. The last act of the film does lose some steam as it tries to pull together long percolating emotional beats. But, these are minor quibbles for a film that manages the impressive feat of weaving together generational trauma, ruminations on the inevitability of death, and an absurd level of gore. Buckle up for a wild ride as the The Monkey drums up a level of carnage that will leave you cackling long after you leave the theater.
The Monkey swings into theaters on February 21st
