The Monkey
February 23, 2025
This movie is a surreal and absurd look at death. Deaths so terrible that sometimes you can only laugh. It doesn’t make you uncomfortable, nor does it look to hit you with jump scares. It’s a typical cursed MacGuffin movie that knows its to be laughed at no matter how high the body count gets.
Yes, the clock work driven, drum playing, malevolent looking toy monkey of the title is evil. But the monkey itself is a means. The main character gets bullied in school by a gang of girls. Girl cruelty is different to boy cruelty, but here they are cruel in a way that boys are to one another. He’s hurt and wants to hurt the source of his school problems. The monkey doesn’t make the main character turn the key in its back. It makes sure it is around when he might consider turning the key. Whatever happens after the key turns and the drumming starts, happens.
The deaths, when they occur, are bizarre, sometimes nonsensical, and often hilarious. There’s unexpected and expected torrents of blood. Immolation. Explosions. Decapitation. There’s even a death in a sleeping bag that doesn’t involve the hockey masked killer, Jason Vorhees. Which is a change because sleeping bag murders are a Friday the 13th thing.
This is a 90 minute dark comedy that falls apart in the third act but ends strong. For those wanting a slasher movie that speaks to their inner teenager, last week’s release, Heart Eyes, might be a good choice. For your fill of ludicrous death scenes, there’s a new Final Destination on the way. But if you want to laugh at death and have death laugh with you, go see The Monkey.