Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey, adapted from the short story by Stephen King, is a strange and unsettling experience that succeeds at creepy imagery and general unease. The film has trouble blending horror and dark comedy, a notoriously tricky combination, and while it has its moments of genius, the tone ends up feeling unbalanced at times. It’s fun, weird, and sometimes genuinely disturbing, but it doesn’t always manage to combine its tones with seamless success.

At the film’s core is Theo James, who delivers a breakthrough performance. He invests his role with wit and nuance, and even the most far-fetched situations in the film feel grounded. James lends the film an emotional weight, particularly in scenes that explore the film’s themes of grief, ethics, and fate. His character grapples with questions of free will and divine intervention—is every event in life a random occurrence, or is there some larger, more sinister design involved? The Monkey doesn’t offer solutions, instead leaving the viewer to consider its unsettling implications.

One thing that Perkins certainly excels at is crafting haunting, indelible imagery. Some of the truly grotesque and memorable death sequences in the film are each executed with precision and an unnerving degree of ingenuity. One such sequence, featuring an astounding number of wasps, is pure nightmare fuel—unsettling in both conception and realization. These sequences are indicative of Perkins’ ability to unsettle his viewer in ways that will linger long after the credits roll.

For all its positives, The Monkey doesn’t quite maximize its potential. The horror-comedy combination doesn’t always work naturally, with some of the comedic elements dissipating tension rather than building it. While the story itself is interesting and full of strange, almost surreal moments, the pacing occasionally drags, causing some moments to feel stretched out too far.

Still, for fans of Perkins’ signature dark storytelling and unsettling aesthetics, there’s plenty to love here. It’s not a perfect horror-comedy hybrid, but it’s a visually striking and thought-provoking film that will stay with you—even if you’re not entirely sure what to make of it.