Lucy's tropical island homecoming turns deadly when her family's clever chimpanzee, Ben, becomes rabid. With her father away and no help coming, paradise becomes a prison as Lucy and her friends fight for survival against a pet they once trusted.
Director: Johannes Roberts
Cast: Johnny Sequoyah, Jessica Alexander, Troy Kotsur
Release Date: January 2, 2026
Genre: Horror
Rated R for strong bloody violent content, gore, language, and some drug use.
Runtime: 1h 29m
Review:
Primate boasts a simple premise that pits a rabid monkey against a group of kids with increasingly gory results that feels reminiscent of 1983's Cujo. Johannes Roberts film is better constructed than that film as he sets up a series of tense scenarios throughout the film's rather efficient runtime. He delivers a series of gory shocks that'll make your blood pump more often than not. The decision to use a practical suit as opposed to CGI is a master stroke as it gives the creature a more tangible presence onscreen. Ben is played by Miguel Torres Umba, a Colombian movement specialist, who delivers impressive work throughout by giving the creature a sense of personality which starts off sweet before turning far more sinister. Roberts is smartly selective about how he deploys the creature, often times giving more of a sense of his presence as he corrals the kids into contained spaces before unleashing it during moments of carnage. Tonally it’s straightforward terror especially early on but there’s a noticeable switch to more overt dark humor as Ben goes from a rampaging monkey to slasher style villain as he appears and disappears before attacking. The cast of fresh-faced young adults are all solid even if they aren’t asked to do much since the characters are all thinly drawn since they’re mostly just meat for the grinder. Johnny Sequoyah leads the film with a capable, focused turn that gives off more final girl energy as the film moves along. Oscar Winner, Troy Kotsur, delivers solid work in his limited screentime but you are left with the feeling that the film could have used him more especially when the film switches to his soundless point of view. Ultimately, Primate proves to be a lean, mean gore machine that delivers enough thrills to make the experience worthwhile.
B
