After the breakout success of Longlegs, writer/director Oz Perkins returns with another horror adaptation from the works of Stephen King. The Monkey stars Theo James as a pair of twins haunted by a cymbal-smacking monkey toy. Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), Elijah Wood (Lord of The Rings, Yellowjackets), and Adam Scott (Severance) also get roped into the creepy monkey mess.
In his review for IGN, critic Tom Jorgenson calls The Monkey “one of the best horror-comedies (and Stephen King adaptations) in recent memory, exploding off the screen with both gory kills and big laughs.” Sounds like a true horror comedy to me.
If you’re planning to catch The Monkey in theaters or wondering when it will be available to stream, check out the details below.
How to Watch The Monkey – Showtimes and Streaming Release Date The Monkey just released in theaters on February 21. You can check out showtimes near you at the main theater links below:
FandangoAMC TheatersCinemark TheatersRegal TheatersThe Monkey Streaming Release DateThe Monkey will eventually stream on Hulu instead of Netflix or Max. The Monkey is being distributed by Neon, which has an agreement with Hulu that gives the streaming service rights to its theatrical releases.
In contrast to the recent trend of “straight-to-streaming” movies, Neon’s independent releases take quite a while to end up on the service. For example, Oz Perkins’ previous movie, Longlegs, was released in theaters on July 12, 2024, and didn’t appear on Hulu until February 14, 2025, around seven months later.
While you might have to wait several months for The Monkey to appear on Hulu, the new Oz Perkins movie should still be available to rent or buy through digital marketplaces like Prime Video by early May.
What Is The Monkey About?
Skeleton Crew: Stories
Featuring the short story “The Monkey,” the novella The Mist, and many more haunting tales.
The Monkey is based on Stephen King’s short story by the same name, originally published in 1980 before being revised for the Skeleton Crew collection in 1985. Here’s the movie’s official synopsis:
Does The Monkey Have a Post-Credits Scene? While The Monkey doesn’t technically have a post-credits scene, there’s a “surprise” worth waiting around for. Beware spoilers, but you can learn more about that in IGN’s guide to The Monkey’s ending.
The Monkey Cast
A premise as deceptively simple as “if you wind up the monkey, someone brutally dies” leaves a lot of room for error, or for the gnarly kills to be the only things anyone remembers. But from that setup, director Osgood Perkins builds a multifaceted rollercoaster of a midnight movie that elicits as many laughs as shocks or gross-out gags, and succeeds at both animating and skewering the power that death holds over us all.
The Monkey marches to the beat of its own bloodstained drum – and it’s an irresistible rhythm to groove to. Perkins and cast balance the horror and comedy inherent in the movie’s silly premise exceptionally well, and the surreal, absurd touches the Longlegs director adds to a world sketched out by Stephen King only help to set it apart from less imaginative, body-count-obsessed movies. The evil influence of the titular, cursed toy results in blockbuster showcases for fantastic gore effects that, when paired with the film’s surprisingly gentle stance on the inevitability of death, affirm how potent horror-comedy can be when executed with a strong perspective and a willingness to get weird.
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The Monkey was written and directed by Oz Perkins. The movie stars the following cast:
Theo James as Hal and Bill ShelburnChristian Convery as young Hal and BillTatiana Maslany as Lois ShelburnColin O’Brien as PeteyRohan Campbell as RickySarah Levy as IdaAdam Scott as Capt. Petey ShelburnElijah Wood as Ted HammermanOsgood Perkins as ChipDanica Dreyer as Annie WilkesLaura Mennell as Hal’s ex-wife and Petey’s motherNicco Del Rio as Rookie PriestThe Monkey Rating and RuntimeThe Monkey is Rated R for strong bloody violent content, gore, language throughout and some sexual references. The movie runs for a total of 1 hour and 38 minutes.
Originally posted:
Feb 21, 2025 5:55 pm
