The Monkey (2025)
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2025-09 to 2026-08
A cursed toy monkey triggers a chain reaction of horrific deaths for those who wind its key.
The story
In 1999, a man attempts to return a wind-up toy monkey at an antiques shop, but the monkey's activation triggers a violent event. Years later, his twin sons, Hal and Bill, discover the monkey among their father's belongings. When they wind its key, a series of tragic accidents occur. The brothers eventually move to Maine to live with relatives, where the monkey mysteriously reappears. Decades later, the brothers are forced to confront the monkey's presence once again as it continues to cause death in their vicinity, forcing them to decide how to deal with the cursed object and the danger it poses to their family.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1999, Captain Petey Shelburn's attempt to return a wind-up toy monkey leads to a violent incident and his disappearance. His twin sons, Hal and Bill, find the monkey and wind it, causing a nearby babysitter to be killed. They move to Maine, where the monkey reappears and causes more deaths. Twenty-five years later, the estranged brothers reunite when Bill warns Hal that the monkey has returned. They discover that Bill has been winding the key in retaliation for Hal's past actions, and both are now at risk. A local man, Ricky, tries to seize the monkey, leading to a confrontation. In a final desperate act, the monkey's mechanism malfunctions, causing widespread destruction and death throughout the town. The brothers ultimately reconcile and accept their roles as the monkey's keepers, vowing to keep it from being wound again as they face their fate together.
- First release year
- 2025
- Runtime (minutes)
- 98
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Osgood Perkins
- Writers
- Osgood Perkins · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Theo James · Hal and Bill Shelburn; Tatiana Maslany · Lois Shelburn; Christian Convery · young Hal and Bill; Colin O'Brien · Petey Shelburn; Rohan Campbell · Ricky; Sarah Levy · Ida Zimmer; Adam Scott · Captain Petey Shelburn; Elijah Wood · Ted Hammerman
- Genres
- supernatural comedy horror; black comedy; comedy horror
- Themes
- curse; death; father-son relationships; trauma
- Tone and mood
- horror; comedy; absurd
- Premise and plot tags
- cursed object; haunted toy; twin brothers; supernatural
- Source material / true-story basis
- Stephen King's 1980 short story
- Content notes
- violence
- Reception
- The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was described as a 'dream team' of horror, though some critics found it tonally haphazard.
- Reported review scores
- CinemaScore · score: C+ · scale: A+ to F; PostTrak · score: 2.5 · scale: 5
- Production trivia
- The film's trailer was the most watched independent horror film trailer ever.; The film was based on a story that Frank Darabont originally held the rights to.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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