🧨 The Monkey (2025): When Death Comes with a Wind-Up Key – Cast, Plot, Trailer & Streaming Details

🧨 The Monkey (2025): When Death Comes with a Wind-Up Key

"Every time it drums... someone dies."

A cursed toy. Twin brothers with a shattered past. A trail of chaos stretching over two generations. Stephen King’s twisted short story The Monkey finally makes its way to the screen — and this isn’t your childhood nightmare, it’s something far more deranged, stylish, and devastating.

Premiering August 7 on Hulu, this dark comedy horror flick — directed by the ever-eerie Osgood Perkins and starring Theo James in a brilliant dual role — breathes new, blood-splattered life into King’s tale of trauma, guilt, and a toy monkey that just won’t stop killing.

🐒 A Monkey with Murder in Its Gears

The story kicks off in 1999. A man tries to return a creepy, drum-playing monkey to an antique store. Instead, he watches in horror as a harpoon accident turns fatal. Soon, he vanishes, leaving his twin boys — Hal and Bill — and their mother Lois (Tatiana Maslany) behind.

Like any good horror tale, the monkey comes back. The boys wind it. Then the deaths begin.

“I thought I was winding up revenge. Turns out, I was setting death free.”

As the body count rises — decapitations, stampedes, bizarre freak accidents — the boys try to bury the monkey deep underground. But evil doesn’t stay buried. Twenty-five years later, Hal and Bill are estranged, haunted by the past… and the monkey is back for round two.

🔪 Death is Random. Guilt is Personal.

Theo James plays both Hal and Bill, and the performances are hauntingly good. Hal is a paranoid recluse, emotionally wrecked. Bill? Bitter, vengeful, and convinced, Hal tried to kill him using the monkey as a child. When the cursed toy resurfaces, they’re forced into a deadly standoff — one where innocent lives are the bargaining chips.

Meanwhile, Hal’s own son Petey is caught in the middle, just as clueless and cursed as his father once was.

“You don’t choose the curse. But you do choose what you become because of it.”

🧨 Gore, Gags & Grief — Osgood Perkins’ Signature Blend

Director Osgood Perkins (Gretel & Hansel, The Blackcoat's Daughter) delivers a masterclass in tone: eerie, surreal, and laced with dark humor. One moment you're cringing in horror, the next you're laughing nervously — and then a bowling ball decapitates someone with a name etched on it.

The film doesn’t just thrive on scares — it’s about broken families, childhood scars, and the randomness of loss. The monkey doesn’t punish evil; it punishes everyone. That’s what makes it terrifying.

👥 Stellar Cast, Sinister Energy

• Theo James as Hal & Bill Shelburn: A powerhouse dual performance. One broken by trauma, the other weaponized by it.

• Christian Convery as young Hal and Bill — capturing early trauma with eerie innocence.

• Tatiana Maslany as Lois — loving, doomed, and unforgettable.

• Colin O'Brien as Petey — a modern-day echo of the family curse.

• Rohan Campbell as Ricky — unhinged and obsessed with the monkey.

• Adam Scott, Sarah Levy, and Elijah Wood all leave memorable marks in roles that range from tragic to terrifying.

💰 From Box Office Hit to Streaming Nightmare

The Monkey opened in theaters earlier this year with a surprise $68.9 million haul on a modest $10–11 million budget. Critics praised its surreal style, emotional depth, and unapologetically weird energy.

Now, it’s making its way to streaming, ready to traumatize a whole new audience on Hulu.

🧠 Themes That Drum Louder Than Fear

This isn’t just a creature feature. The Monkey plays with:

• Generational trauma — can you ever outrun what you inherited?

• Moral randomness — what if the guilty are spared and the innocent punished?

• Estranged families — and how grief can both divide and reconcile.

Even when the monkey is boxed and buried, the damage remains.

“We thought the monkey was cursed. But maybe... we were.”

🛑 Final Beat: When Evil’s Just Waiting to Be Wound

The Monkey is vintage Stephen King — but with a modern, blood-soaked, emotionally raw twist. If you liked Hereditary, Barbarian, or even Don’t Look Now, this one’s going to hit you like a drumbeat to the heart.

It’s not just a horror film. It’s a psychological time bomb — and it starts ticking the moment someone dares to turn that little wind-up key.

🎬 Streaming August 7, only on Hulu. Watch it. If you dare. But remember… once the monkey drums, someone dies.