The Monkey

The Monkey is a 2025 horror-comedy written and directed by Osgood Perkins and adapted from a 1980 short story by Stephen King. Produced by James Wan's Atomic Monster alongside distributor NEON, the film arrived hot on the heels of Perkins's sleeper hit Longlegs and trades that film's dread-soaked restraint for gleeful, splatter-filled black comedy.

Theo James stars in a dual role as estranged adult twin brothers Hal and Bill, who as children discovered a wind-up toy monkey that triggers a gruesome, seemingly random death each time its key is turned. Decades after they tried to bury the cursed object, the killings begin again, forcing the brothers to confront the toy and each other. Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood and Perkins himself appear in supporting roles amid a cascade of elaborate, cartoonishly violent set pieces.

The Monkey opened in February 2025 to a strong box-office result for an original horror title, becoming one of NEON's biggest launches and quickly turning a profit against its low budget. Critics embraced its demented sense of humor and inventive kills, reading the film as a meditation on grief and the randomness of death dressed up as a crowd-pleasing gorefest. It streams on Hulu.