FF '25: Primate

Mighty Joe Young. King Kong. Caesar from Planet of the Apes. Curious George. All-time great monkeys. It’s interesting that we don’t really get movies about monkeys very often, let alone horror movies about how scary monkeys are, which is why Primate was so interesting. They try to sell us nice monkey propaganda, when—in reality—these things are kinda terrifying and that should be reflected in films as well from time to time. Primate is the newest film from director Johannes Roberts, who himself is no stranger to the killer animal genre with both entries in the 47 Meters Down series. Primate is a small film, set inside of a Hawaii mansion where an author lives with his two children and their monkey, Ben. After Ben contracts rabies, he begins to go on a killing spree, turning his back on his family in a bloodthirsty pursuit. That’s kind of it, there isn't anything else to the story, no big twists or anything, which is the movie’s biggest strength. There’s no need to try to reinvent the genre or add any new elements to an already proven formula, and by keeping it simple it lets the kills and effects be the star of the show. 

Ben (Miguel Torres Umba) is ruthless. He abandons all the concepts of family and being the sweet, friendly monkey they’ve grown to know and just goes on a rampage. It will please some viewers to know that at no point is a real monkey harmed, but instead is played by a man in a costume. This gives the movie a campy tone that really works in its favor. The kills here are brutal as Ben uses his brute strength to rip and tear through the family, and the physicality of the person in the suit really gives the visceral actions a lot of weight. When Ben slowly skulks around his prey, intense feelings of dread wash over you. No one ever really seems smarter than Ben’s unpredictable nature. 

Unfortunately, despite the movie’s fun setting and set pieces, it does fall short when it comes to the overall plot and characters. Everyone here is fairly one dimensional, and meant to just be flesh for Ben to rip through. Adam (Troy Kotsur), a deaf father and author, just kind of gets pushed to the side as a workaholic. They set up a story line about how the mother of the two girls was working with monkeys to understand linguistics and how the monkey was able to speak using an iPad, but instead of giving the audience more things to feel for, we just are given more things to flinch at. The father loves his two daughters, but is out of the movie until the end. The angle of the house party, a no parents weekend gone wrong, could be fun and interesting; but, why go through all of the effort to characterize these people and give us glimpses into who they are and their relationships? The actors are trying to work with what they have, even if what they have is a director just telling them to be scared, or simply act snooty and rude. Troy Kotsur, in particular, is giving his limited role his all. He carries excitement and empathy in his face, the problem is that he doesn’t really get too much to do besides being concerned or excited to see his daughter who has been away at school.

For all of its shortcomings, Primate is an entertaining and engaging slasher (if you can call it that) film. The villain is an ape on the loose and the people are just there to die. It’s the same problem that most of these killer animal movies have in that you’re watching man versus nature go at it, but to what extent can you really stretch that. The movie never overstays its welcome and comes in at just under 90 minutes, so by the time you really start to poke holes in it, the movie is over. 

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