The Monkey, Osgood Perkins' follow up to this year's smash hit Longlegs, hits theaters on February 21, 2025 via NEON, with Entertainment Weekly today previewing some first look images of the “hyper dark” horror.

Produced by James Wan and based on a Stephen King short story of the same name, The Monkey stars Theo James (The White Lotus), Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), Elijah Wood (Maniac, The Lord Of The Rings, Bookworm), Christian Convery (Sweet Tooth), Colin O’Brien (Wonka), Rohan Campbell (Halloween Ends) and Sarah Levy (Schitt’s Creek).

In The Monkey, when twin brothers Hal and Bill discover their father’s old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths starts occurring all around them. The brothers decide to throw the monkey away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years. But when the mysterious deaths begin again, the brothers must reunite to find a way to destroy the monkey for good before it takes the lives of everyone close to them.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Perkins reveals more of The Monkey‘s plot, how he expanded on the course materials, and about leaning into the comedy of the R-rated story, and how his own personal experience with death influenced the tone:

“What if it's a comedy? […] Here's this monkey that doesn't do anything. It's not M3GAN. It doesn't attack. It's evil just in its existence. Things happen around it for no better reason than they do. Its presence makes people die in insane ways.

I've had people die in truly, deeply insane ways,” Perkins continues. “Everybody dies whether there's a monkey or not. What if you could do this with a smile — process the fact that everybody dies? And what an insane, surrealist notion, dude! You will die; we'll all die. That's crazy sh–. To do that as a comedy felt very apropos.

James agrees, adding: