The Monkey Review – Death Can Be Pretty Funny

The trailers for The Monkey spoil several solid kills, but they don’t give away the film’s tone. It’s much more of a pitch-black comedy than its Final Destination moments might imply. Every comically gory fatality is a punchline in Osgood Perkins’ charming meditation on life and its conclusions. The project neatly blends family drama with slapstick violence to create a dreamlike jaunt through surprising existential territory. While the pieces don’t always fit together perfectly, The Monkey is, appropriately, bananas.

Perkins has a unique relationship with death. His parents, actors Anthony Perkins and Berry Berenson, made headlines with their passing. Perkins’ father died from complications due to AIDS after living as a closeted gay man in a straight relationship for most of his life. His mother was a passenger on the American Airlines flight that hit the North Tower in 9/11. Perkins’ bizarre upbringing contributed massively to his previous hit, Longlegs, but it’s the central codex of his latest.

It’s Not a Toy

The titular monkey is a classic wind-up device that emits creepy carnival music while playing his little drum. As the film’s first few minutes explain, it invades the Shelburn family through patriarchal pilot Petey. Petey abandons his twin sons, Hal and Ben, leaving them with his wife, Lois. When the boys find the primate in their pop’s personal effects, they turn its key. Every time the monkey beats its drum, someone dies in a comically complicated fashion. The second try takes their mother, but it takes a few funerals to learn the pattern. Reasonably, Hal and Ben chain up its box and throw it down a well, buying themselves 25 years of relative peace. Unfortunately, the colorful harbinger of doom resurfaces, forcing the estranged brothers to reconnect. Hal must reckon with the curse before it risks his own distant son and countless innocents along with him.

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As an adaptation of Stephen King’s work, The Monkey enters a massive catalog of similar works. Filmmakers have turned the King’s absurd literary output into countless projects of endlessly varying quality. This one lands far closer to Kubrick’s Shining than it does to King’s own take on his material. It’s not a faithful adaptation, though it does preserve a few of the major themes. Reportedly, Frank Darabont of The Mist, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile had the rights to the story. His serious, straightforward adaptation never saw the light of day, but Perkins took things in another direction. There was a more faithful short film under King’s wild Dollar Baby contract, but only local audiences got to see it. Perkins finds humor in the premise and complexity in the family dynamics. It’s a solid entry in the canon, even as it plays with the tropes like toys.

All in the Family

The cast is one of The Monkey‘s finest assets. Horror comedies can ask a lot from the performers, but this short list meets the challenge. Theo James bears most of the weight, at least over the film’s latter two acts. He portrays both twins, allowing him to deliver two radically different performances. His Hal is wound up tight, burying his emotions behind walls of perceived normalcy. Conversely, his Ben wears all those big feelings on his sleeve. In both cases, James’ greatest gift might be his voice. In an ongoing voiceover and several phone calls, James makes a case for himself as a new go-to trailer voice performer. Before James enters the narrative, Sweet Tooth star Christian Convery portrays the twins as kids. He’s also a solid performer, though his characters are slightly more arch. Tatiana Maslany deserves special commendations for her hilarious central role.

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The Monkey definitely owes some debt to the Final Destination franchise. It’s pretty funny to see that series making a comeback as another project completely outdoes every entry. You’ll probably see a trailer for the new one before Perkins’ black comedy. There’s a fair amount of fondness for those films among horror fans, but The Monkey addresses one of their biggest issues. For all of their on-screen fatalities, Final Destination never finds anything worthwhile to say about death. The Monkey has a clear and consistent message that becomes shockingly positive. For a film that wants you to laugh at several brutal executions, The Monkey ultimately calls us to put death behind us. It’s existential comedy by way of slapstick ultraviolence. Death is the punchline to life, and the only suitable reaction is a goodhearted chuckle. It’s a far healthier view than most examples of the genre.

The Monkey is a charming black comedy that finds something interesting to say with its gonzo premise. It exists in a dreamlike surreality that places it apart from most of its peers. I found myself laughing so much more often than I thought I would. Even through all the snark and cruelty, The Monkey has a heart that beats as loudly as its drum. It’s definitely not for everyone, but if you often bust out laughing in moments that leave theaters silent, you’ll find a barrel full of fun here.