The Monkey (2025) – Cast, Plot, Reviews, Release Date & Streaming Info

 

🐒 The Monkey (2025) — When Childhood Toys Turn Deadly

                                        “You wind it up… someone winds up dead.”

Stephen King has done it again — resurrecting our childhood fears in horrifying new ways. This time, it’s not a haunted hotel or a killer car. It’s a wind-up cymbal-clapping monkey with a death wish.

Based on King’s 1980 short story, “The Monkey” is a creeping, psychological horror film that leans into generational trauma, cursed objects, and the dread that something small and simple — like a toy — can harbor ancient evil.

Directed by Osgood Perkins (Gretel & Hansel, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House), this adaptation promises slow-burn tension and a haunting visual palette that only gets darker with each clang of the monkey’s cymbals.

---

🧠 Plot Summary

When twin brothers Hal and Bill discover their deceased father's belongings in the attic, they come across an old, rusted toy: a mechanical monkey that claps its cymbals and grins wide — too wide.

Soon after, people around them start dying in inexplicable ways. Hal, the more superstitious of the two, begins to piece together a chilling pattern — every time the monkey claps, someone close to them dies.

Years pass. The twins grow up and go their separate ways, but the monkey returns. And this time, it doesn’t want to be forgotten.

Now Hal must confront the past, the curse, and his own unraveling mind before the monkey claps again… and someone he loves disappears forever.

Think The Babadook meets Annabelle, with a dose of It Follows.

---

🎭 Cast & Characters

The cast is a mix of horror veterans and fresh faces — a smart move for a film that balances nostalgia and fresh dread:

• 🧑‍🦰 Theo James as Hal, the tormented protagonist trying to protect his family from a curse that began in childhood.

• 🧔‍♂️ Elijah Wood as Bill, Hal’s estranged twin who believes the horror is all in Hal’s head… until it’s too late.

• 👩 Tatiana Maslany as Claire, Hal’s wife — caught between her husband’s unraveling sanity and an unseen evil.

• 👧 Sophia Hammons as Emma, Hal’s daughter — the new target of the monkey’s curse.

• 🎩 Christian Slater in a chilling cameo as the voice of the monkey’s original creator (through eerie archival tapes).

---

🗓️ Release Date

The Monkey is set to rattle its way into theaters on October 17, 2025, right in time for Halloween horror season. Prepare for goosebumps, tension, and late-night toy paranoia.

---

📝 Early Reviews & Festival Buzz

Premiering at Fantastic Fest 2025, The Monkey has already drawn critical attention for its atmosphere over jump scares approach — a trend welcome among horror purists.

🧾 The Verge: “Slow, sinister, and suffocating — horror built the old-fashioned way.”
📽️ IndieWire: “Theo James gives his most unsettling performance to date.”
🍅 Rotten Tomatoes (early critic score): 88%
⭐ Horror subreddit buzz: “This year’s sleeper hit — think Hereditary vibes with less gore and more dread.”

---

📈 Popularity & Social Media Hype

The trailer — which features a single close-up of the monkey clapping as lights flicker and voices whisper — already has over 25 million views on YouTube.

TikTok horror accounts are dissecting every cymbal crash, theorizing about:

• The monkey’s origin

• Whether Hal or Bill is the true cursed twin

• Easter eggs that connect it to other King stories (is that a Needful Things reference?)

---

📺 Where to Watch

🎥 Theatrical Release – The Monkey hits theaters exclusively on October 17, 2025 with advanced horror-night screenings in select cities.

📲 Streaming – Expect it to arrive on Hulu or MAX (formerly HBO Max) around December 2025. The film is produced by 20th Century Studios, hinting at a Hulu-first streaming strategy post-theatrical.

💿 Physical & Digital – A Collector’s Edition Blu-ray is rumored to include a limited replica of the monkey toy. (Buy at your own risk.)

---

🎬 Final Thoughts from Frame Flicks

The Monkey doesn’t rely on gore or spectacle — it counts on a quieter fear. One that lives in childhood closets and lingers into adulthood. A fear that something is watching… something that knows your name… and claps for your end.

Whether you're a Stephen King fan, a horror connoisseur, or just into unnerving stories with strong performances, The Monkey looks set to be Fall 2025’s creepiest surprise.

Frame Flicks Rating (Prediction): 4.5/5 Cymbals
Don’t wind it. Don’t look at it. Just don’t.