With ‘The Monkey’, Osgood Perkins Takes a Bold Creative Leap

In the terrifying scene from Osgood Perkins’ 2016 horror movie, ‘I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House’, a ghost mutters about decay and deterioration. Perkins, who is well-known for his atmospheric, slow-burning horror, frequently combines family trauma and monsters to produce eerie stories with unhappy resolutions.  But his most recent movie, ‘The Monkey’, approaches gloomy subjects in a different way and offers a happier ending.

‘The Monkey’ has a surprisingly joyful tone in spite of its ingenious and gory kills.  The film strikes a mix between horror and ridiculous humour, even if the cursed object at its core—a menacing monkey toy—causes horrible deaths.  One character’s death, for instance, consists of a string of comic disasters, such as burning her skull and trapping her leg in a vase, until she meets a grisly end.  This humorous element distinguishes ‘The Monkey’ from Perkins’ usually depressing movies.

Image Courtesy: IMDb

The narrative centres on Hal (Theo James), who has been plagued by the monkey’s lethal influence since he was a little child.  As an estranged father, his connection with his son, Petey (Colin O’Brien), has been strained due to his fear of curses.  ‘The Monkey’ offers a different route from Perkins’ earlier films, which frequently leave characters caught in vicious cycles of misery.  Hal and Petey eventually manage to move on, choosing connection over fear, even though destruction follows the cursed thing.

 Perkins frequently shows doomed individuals battling trauma in his earlier films, like ‘Gretel & Hansel’, ‘Longlegs’, and ‘The Blackcoat’s Daughter’.  Tragic events in his own life have shaped his storytelling.  But he moves in the direction of acceptance in ‘The Monkey’. The movie is his most hopeful effort to date because it implies that although death is unavoidable, healing and connection are possible.

–Farheen Ali